Special workshop for Israeli Entrepreneurship in the Hostel Industry

Hi everyone. I wanted to share with you an exciting thing that is happening in our local hostel industry in Israel. We are promoting new young entrepreneurs and teaching them about the business.
See below a summary of we've done.
As a hostel owner and manager I am very excited about these new comers.
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Israeli Entrepreneurship in the Hostel Industry Gaining Momentum
The second ILH (Israel Hostels) workshop for entrepreneurs in the Israeli hostelling industry took place at the beginning of June 2013 in Jerusalem. The two day workshop was a total success.
One of ILH’s main goals is to improve accommodation options available to independent travelers in Israel. The aim of the entrepreneurs’ workshop was to increase the number of quality hostels, pumping "new blood" into this fast growing industry, thereby attracting more international tourists.
In this recent workshop, 25 participants came from all over Israel – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Galilee, Haifa and the south of Israel, filling the workshop to capacity. They all share a love for traveling the world and a love for Israel which has inspired them to open a hostel of their own in Israel. Like any other business, the gap between the dream and turning that dream into a reality is significant. This is exactly where the ILH workshop comes in, offering those entrepreneurs the theoretical foundations, some practical tools, and the know-how needed to avoid common obstacles. It shows them that their dream can and should become a reality.
Most of the participants are between the ages of 25 and 40. Only a small amount of them now work in the tourism industry. Most of them come from other fields, including high tech, real estate, restauranteering, and film. The independent tourism niche attracts them because of the unassuming and positive interaction that takes place in a hostel. The participants were in different stages of their entrepreneurship, some of them in the initial dream phase, some in search of a property, some already recruiting partners and investors. The locations for their planned hostels are also varied beyond the classic tourist destinations of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, including Lower Galilee and Upper Galilee, the Negev Desert and the Golan Heights.
These two packed days included lectures about the hostel industry in the world and the current situation of hostelling in Israel, relevant marketing tools (including social networks and booking engines), hostel management and operation (from start-up through managing workers, to pricing beds and rooms), branding, software, and a Q&A session with experienced entrepreneurs and participants from the first workshop that came to share their knowledge on finding a property and licensing issues. In addition, a business consultant gave a special presentation of the financial side of the hostel business and taught on building a business plan using an economic model based on real data. During the workshop the participants got to know hostel owners from around Israel (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Sea of Galilee area and the Dead sea area) and ILH people, who happily offered to support them after the workshop on their way to opening a new hostel.
In our modern business world, which at times seems cold and hostile, it is uncommon to see people who own a business share their knowledge and experience with others that want to enter the same field. But hostel owners from Israel believe this way is the only way to make another quantum leap in becoming a central destination for foreign independent tourists from all over the globe.
One of the workshop participants, Sara Hatav: “I’ve been dreaming for years to own a backpacker hostel, but it was always just a dream. The welcome that I got from Efrat & Yaron in the workshop made it all feel real. I was glad to meet other people in the same state of mind that share the same dream. The workshop made it clear how many small details should be taken in consideration..but now after 2 days and so many tools that I got – I am ready to go ahead!”
Another participant, Eyal Avni, is a real-estate businessman and a young entrepenuer – “in ILH the passion to develop the hostel industry overcomes the immediate urge to stop the opposition. The ILH workshop exposed us to all the important secrets and data of the local industry, with a promise for futher help and support along the path”.
ILH network coordinator Efrat Laor, together with hostel owners that are members of ILH, are planning to open new workshops for tourism students, for Zimmer (holiday cabin) owners and other tourism operators interested in working with independent travelers, and, of course, for entrepreneurs.
In the six months since the first workshop in January 2013, four hostels have opened: one in Clil (Western Galilee), one in Arad (by the Dead sea), one in Nazareth and one in Jaffa. With the enthusiasm and innovation shown by participants at this workshop, we have a good reason to believe that the growth in the hostel industry in Israel will only increase.
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