After chatting with Josh on this topic for a while now thought I would throw it out there for all to see.
I look with envy when I read about the Australian, New Zealand or European hostel meetings that seem to leave us here in North America about 30 years in the past. I think it is time now to have an annual North American Hostel Conference. And not just a country conference which I know Canada already has with the Backpackers Hostels of Canada. This would encompass Canada, the United States and Mexico. What I envision is each country alternately hosting the conference in the late Winter, early Spring sometime just before or after the European conference. And already with some comments received I think New York could be a potential site as it already has 50+ hostels, good air connections from everywhere and could encourage some European colleagues to come on over. And then Mexico would be year two and then Canada.
Why do I think this is needed. Well, after re opening our hostel in Edmonton, Alberta it became apparent that my niche is still pretty much completely unknown. I stopped counting the amount of times I was asked if we were a homeless shelter (the vibrant colours and expensive furniture should have been a sign that no we were not) or asked by bankers for statistics of hostels so they could confirm my requests for extra financing. I also see the fragmentation of the market in Canada at least. HI is the big fish and they do little to no advertising, little to no involvement in government tourism initiatives and of course they organize their annual meetings (which were always a great time and sometimes educational) and have more of an interest in members then in actually growing the business amongst the 90 +% of Canadians who do not know what a backpackers hostel is. I am assuming the US and Mexico are much the same.
So why an annual conference. Well, first it works in other parts of the world in terms of finding out trends, networking, partnering, etc. And the hotels do it and get a lot of press from it as well. If one wants to be taken seriously as a niche whether you are a single hostel property running in a small town or an urban chain it is important to have a meeting place at least annually. I believe Josh has done a great service for hostels worldwide with the hostelmanagement website and now is time to try to get to the next level in North America so we can only be a decade behind the rest of the world.
What I envision is of course the two day conference with a trade show component throughout. Topics would be of course Code B (bed bugs) and regular operational practices but can be so much more. Could be the hiring of a PFK kind of consultant to track hostel numbers nationwide (makes it anonymous and hides individual properties numbers). This would allow statistics to be gathered in terms of occupancy at least that would allow existing and new hostels alike to bring these numbers to the bank to at least placate financiers desire for information. Could be a partnering module on how to advertise in a specific market with two or three hostels splitting the costs instead of everyone trying to do little with little. How to start a hostel module for all those wide eyed idealists who email this website on how to begin. Could be hostels for sale or locations around North America that want a hostel but do not have one yet. (In Alberta we have an annual tourism investment symposium where municipalities, towns and cities set up to flog their locations to tourism investors (usually hotels and resorts). It is amazing what some governments are willing to give to new businesses including tax concessions, cheap land leases and even employment incentives (they pay portions of the new staff for a set amount of time). Why can’t hostels get in on this. The trade show could feature furnishings or the latest in technology (Skype, etc) or sessions on how to use technology. And of course just by gathering together we can swap some ideas and of course socialize. This is what I miss from HI (I was with them for five years). Opportunity to talk to like minded people, gripe, network, come up with solutions and of course have a very good time at the social events. The conference would be open to all hostels not just one chain, much like the hotel conferences are run.
So that is it in a nutshell. Write away in comments, rants or raves, PM me if interested in seeing this go further.
Cheers,
Gary
GO Backpackers Hostel
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