How can you make your hostel excellent at encouraging community and atmosphere? Learn from the hostel community in this panel discussion, which was streamed live Tues, 17 Dec at 18:00 GMT. It lasted about 30 minutes, and was recorded for your listening and viewing pleasure now!
A big thank you to our panelists:
Brian Gehrisch- owner of Transylvania Hostel in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Lee Balot- owner of The Green Backpackers in Mizpe Ramon, Israel
Bebeto Azevedo- owner of LimeTime Hostels in Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
(Moderator: Courtney Loechl- manager of Pacific Tradewinds Hostel in San Francisco, USA; hostelmanagement.com writer & collaborator)
Below is the recording of the entire discussion. Below that are the specific questions the panelists were asked, including a few questions tweeted in live from listeners. These questions are linked as timestamps if you want to jump to specific topics and questions in the video.
Enjoy!
Creating Community Discussion Questions:
What type of atmosphere are you trying to create for your specific hostel?
In what ways you develop and foster a sense of community in your hostel?
What are your biggest challenges in doing this?
What events or activities do you find consistently work for creating community? What doesn't?
Do you have a dedicated staff person or volunteer for activity shifts?
Do you find volunteers work better at creating community if they are short term?
(Twitter Question) "Why is community so much more important for hostels?"
How do you deal with guests who aren't interested in joining community?
(Twitter Question) "Is there a difference in low & high season in how you create community
Do you ever work with other hostels in your area to create a city-wide backpacker community?
(Twitter Question) "Are long term guests good or bad for community?"
Final comments from the panelists on community
**Our next panel discussion will take place sometime in January (Date & Time TBD), after the holidays are over. It will focus on guests security & guest screening. If you would like to be considered as a panelist, please email me:
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