1 / 24

Youth Travel Market & Hostels

Youth Travel Market & Hostels. Regional Tourism Leaders Forum June 20, 2012 By Shelbey Sy. Youth Travel. Independent Backpackers. Student Travel. ESL Study. Working Holidaymakers. Youth Travel. Youth Travel is over 50 years old

satya
Download Presentation

Youth Travel Market & Hostels

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Youth Travel Market & Hostels Regional Tourism Leaders Forum June 20, 2012 By Shelbey Sy

  2. Youth Travel Independent Backpackers Student Travel ESL Study Working Holidaymakers

  3. Youth Travel • Youth Travel is over 50 years old • Estimated 160 million international tourist arrivals a year (20% of total) • Worth $165 Billion (18% of worldwide tourism receipts) • Lacks recognition by tourism bodies around the world - including Canada. • Australia, New Zealand & South Africa are exceptions

  4. Youth Travel Today • Increasingly challenging to define. • No longer just about demographics: • Age: 18 to 30 • Origin: Western Europe • No to low income earners • Now more a state of mind • Adventurous • Young-at-heart

  5. Motivations for Youth Travel • See the world • Understand other cultures • Adventure • See the sights and try new experiences • Working holiday • Study abroad • Language travel • Volunteer abroad

  6. Characteristics of Youth Travel • Young travellers travel for longer periods of time than the average traveller. • Spend more than other types of travellers. • Are pioneers discovering new destinations • Are considered more dispersed travellers • Travel beyond gateways and major resorts

  7. Economic Impact of Youth Travel • Youth Travel is High Value • $165 Billion in 2010 (acc to UNWTO) • Youth travellers may be money poor but time rich, hence spend longer in the destination than other tourists. (50 days vs 6 days) • Youth trip average spend: US$2,600 (2010) • Int’l tourist average spend: US$1,250 (2010) • Youth trip to AUS avg spend: AU$21,228 (2009) • Int’l tourist avg spend in AUS: AU$3,313 (2009) • Higher lifetime value – often return to places they visited in their youth later in life.

  8. Economic Impact of Youth Travel • Youth Markets are Resilient • When the going gets tough, the young keep travelling. • 9/11, SARS and crisis of 2008 • GAP Travel and other purpose related trips are on the rise in Europe. • Youth travellers often attract others to the destination (working holidaymakers & students)

  9. Growth in Youth Travel • Destinations experiencing highest growth • South-East Asia • South America • China & India • Youth market accounts for 300 million overnight stays annually. Expected to rise to 500 million by 2020.

  10. Youth Travel in Canada • Youth travel market is highly competitive. • New, sexier destinations are getting greater attention. • Lonely Planet’s Best Countries to Visit • Uganda, Myanmar, Laos, Jordan, Brazil for example. • High cost of travel in Canada • Canadian currency • Air / Train travel (Lack of low-cost carriers like RyanAir or Tiger Airways)

  11. MORE Challenges We Face • Lack of industry recognition makes promoting youth travel in Canada harder. • No usable market statistics • No marketing support • DMO forecasts and reports are harder to apply to our market. • Budgeting • Pricing strategy

  12. The Hostelling Industry

  13. What are Hostels? • Hostels, which primarily cater to young people, offer affordable accommodation in shared dorm or private rooms. • Offer a variety of common spaces, such as cook-it-yourself kitchens, lounges, TV/Movie rooms. • Organize activities and social events for guests. • The focus is on affordability and offering common social spaces and activities for guests to mingle and interact.

  14. Hostelling International • Invented hostelling – in 1909 in Germany • Not-for-profit organization • The world’s largest budget accommodation network with over 4000 hostels in 90 countries. • Here in Canada, there are 60 HI hostels across the country and another 100 or so independent properties. • In Western Canada, HI has 30 hostels.

  15. HI in Western Canada

  16. No Two Hostels are Alike • Located in urban centres, resort towns and remote, wilderness locations.

  17. A Look Inside

  18. A Look Inside

  19. A Look Inside

  20. A Look Inside

  21. A Look Inside

  22. A Look Inside (not quite)

  23. So Who Stays with us? • Average age: 27.8 years • Getting older • Young & the young at heart • Countries of origin • Majority still from the Western Hemisphere • North America, Australia, Japan & Western Europe • Eastern Europe & South America growing • Backpackers, working holidaymakers and groups • Very tech-savvy (~50% of guest books online)

  24. THANK YOU! shelbey.sy@hihostels.ca

More Related