Hosting Unforgettable Hostel Events and Pub Crawls
Experiential travel is why backpackers book hostels. A traveler can choose to stay in a hotel or rent someone’s apartment for a few days at a time and see a place, but when they book a hostel, they get to truly experience a place. As hostel owners and managers, there are ways to get backpackers to not only book beds, but also extend their stays, and that’s by hosting unforgettable hostel events and pub crawls.
Mix it up
While it’s easy to throw up fliers for a pub crawl and ask people to meet in the common room at a certain time every time, doing the same thing every night can get stale. Also, there’s been a rise in wellness travel versus party travel. Hostel guests still want to feel the excitement of a new place and mingle with other travelers, but the way they’re traveling is changing. There is more of a demand for events and opportunities to tap into nature, nourish the body with yoga and stretching, and enjoy a place without the feeling of being hungover the next day.
By mixing it up and adding events that get people out of the hostel, such as sunset walks, yoga sessions, morning stretches, arts and crafts nights, writing workshops, surf trips, hikes, s’mores, karaoke, trivia, and game nights, the appeal is much bigger for the general guest. There can still be nights reserved for the pub crawls, bar hopping, and beer pong tournaments, but keeping a variety of events is the key to creating a broad travel experience for backpackers and can help drive more extensions.
Read the Room
It’s important to know the strengths of your staff. There’s no use in tasking someone who doesn’t drink or is an early riser who goes to bed at 9 pm to be the one who takes people out for a night on the town. The same goes for the partiers; it likely won’t be as effective or as fun of an event if you ask the night-owl to be the one who takes people out for a morning activity. Most people who work at hostels are social, but there are the occasional volunteers who are less social and prefer to stay in their comfort zone. Having them host events like game night, journaling sessions, and walking tours can be the best way to still get them involved in the social atmosphere of the hostel without requiring them to carry the energy of a more involved event. Also, getting feedback from your staff during meetings and having strong communication can be a key to creating the best events for your hostel guests, since they’re the boots-on-the-ground and are the ones who feel the pulse of the hostel the most.
Partner with Local Companies
There’s only so much that you can accomplish with a small team or limited resources. Not all hostels have their own surf boards, karaoke equipment, or in-house yoga instructors. By partnering with local companies, your hostel can create unique experiences and host unforgettable events. Bar crawls, especially, can be hugely successful when you reach out to local bars and ask about creating discounts for hostel guests on certain nights. The same can be said about local restaurants, museums, and shops. Travelers like to soak up the local community, so by partnering with local companies to offer discounts or offers for hostel guests, you can satisfy that desire of theirs while also building healthy relationships with the community. Other good opportunities include finding local yoga studios, surf shops, movie theaters, and cafes to create discounts for your guests when they visit.
Open Your Doors to the Community
In the same way that partnering with local companies can create strong relationships with the community, opening your doors to the public can create unique opportunities for not only travelers to engage with the area, but also for the locals to know you even better. The concept of a hostel is still somewhat misunderstood in many places, so inviting the community to physically come see and engage with the hostel can be a great way to grow your brand. It can be the thing that also sparks more bookings, as someone who is local might have a friend or relative who is visiting them, and now they have an inexpensive, safe place to go when they do. Hostel owners often speak about how effective this approach is, citing that the local community cherishes the opportunity to broaden their own horizons by having dinner or coffee with a backpacker from some faraway country. Opening your doors to the community can be one of the most unique and inexpensive, ways to build strong relationships, and it can be as simple as hosting a potluck or community dinner once a week or once a month.
