StayWYSE Benchmark Study

STAY

Safe Travel Accommodation for Youth Association

The Youth Travel Accommodation Industry: Crucial business metrics and trends.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

By Greg Richards and Peter Welk

STAY WYSE IS A SECTOR ASSOCIATION OF WYSE travel confederation

STAY

Safe Travel Accommodation for Youth Association

The Youth Travel Accommodation Industry: Crucial business metrics and trends.

About the Report: The Youth Travel Accommodation Industry: Crucial business metrics and trends.

This pioneering study of the global youth accommodation industry reveals how important and dynamic the sector has become in recent years.

The study will: • enable youth travel accommodation operators to benchmark their own business performance characteristics in order to develop strategic concepts and optimize business outcomes.

• provide guidance to youth travel accommodation providers in assessing their own performance, cost effectiveness, revenue and expenses relative to the industry standard.

• gain comparisons relative to the hotel industry.

• collect data for the purpose of identifying trends.

The global youth tourism market continues to expand as a result of young people travelling more frequently, more widely and more independently. This market growth has created an increased demand for youth accommodation, and stimulated the development of new forms of accommodation. We are also seeing a growth in professionalisation and commercialisation which is driving convergence between Youth Travel Accommodation (YTA) providers and other sectors of the accommodation market, particularly budget hotels.

Although the YTA industry is growing in size and importance, information pertaining to the business operations of hostel-style accommodation is scarce, certainly in comparison to the frequent and detailed analyses of the hotel sector. Information on how the YTA sector operates is useful in allowing operators to benchmark their business and assess their own performance relative to industry standards.

This study was commissioned by the STAY WYSE Association in order to provide an ongoing review of the business operations of the Youth Travel Accommodation sector, and to establish crucial business metrics and trends in this dynamic sector.

The full report is only available to STAYWYSE members.

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STAY

Safe Travel Accommodation for Youth Association

The Youth Travel Accommodation Industry: Crucial business metrics and trends.

Some highlights from the report Trend towards private rooms and en-suites continues • The average number of beds per room declined to 2.9 beds per room, underlining the trend towards more private rooms in Youth Travel Accommodation (YTA) establishments.

• En-suite facilities were provided in 57% of YTA rooms. Europe and Asia have the highest proportion of en-suite rooms, whereas Oceania and Africa tend to have more dorm accommodation and the fewest en-suite facilities.

Typical guests – backpackers, tourists and groups • Backpackers account for half of the total YTA market in terms of bed nights, followed by individual travellers (37%) and groups (12%).

Online bookings and occupancy rates remain buoyant • Guest bookings came most frequently via the YTA establishment’s own website (23%), followed by third party hostel booking websites (21%).

• The average occupancy rate reported by youth travel accommodation providers was just over 48% in 2009, 2% higher than the occupancy rate reported in 2008.

Additional services and sources of revenue add value for today’s young traveller • Whilst the sale of beds accounted for over three-quarters of the reported revenue, food and beverage sales combined accounted for 15% of total revenue. Other sources, such as internet, tours, bike hire, and laundry, accounted for l0% of revenues.

About STAY WYSE and the value of membership About STAY WYSE and the value of membership STAY (Safe Travel Accommodation for Youth) WYSE Association was established in 2006 by the world’s leading youth travel accommodation providers to represent the entire global Youth Travel Accommodation sector. STAY WYSE is the only not-for-profit industry association bringing together the diverse segments of this significant US$6 billion/year industry. STAY WYSE works to provide much needed support and representation for one of the youth travel industry’s fastest growing niche markets.

STAYWYSE is actively growing its membership and we are interested in hearing from you – whether you are an independent looking for opportunities and advice in managing and growing your business, or a booking site or large network keen to develop new markets.

You can find more information about our Association and an application form for membership at www.staywyse.org.

For more information about the report, please contact: mailbox@staywyse.org

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The Youth Travel Accommodation Industry: Crucial business metrics and trends.

Summary The full version of the report is available to STAYWYSE members and survey participants only.

If you are interested in becoming a member please visit www.staywyse.org or contact the STAYWYSE association at mailbox@staywyse.org Authors Greg Richards Peter Welk Tourism Research and Marketing Year 2009 Publisher WYSE Travel Confederation STAY WYSE Association Keizersgracht 174 1016 DW Amsterdam The Netherlands T: +31 (0) 20 421 2800 F: +31 (0) 20 421 2810 E: mailbox@staywyse.org www.staywyse.org STAY WYSE is a sector association of WYSE Travel Confederation