STAY WYSE March 2011 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2011

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LAUNCHING THE HOSTEL REVENUE MANAGEMENT TOOL

CONTENTS

The hostel sector has always been regarded as inferior to the hotel sector in terms of professionalism. STAY WYSE will help hostels overcome this hurdle by providing you with a tool which will help you grow your business.

Are you carrying the STAY WYSE logo?

Ever heard of benchmarking and revenue management?

Benchmarking is a widely used process in the hotel sector which can help you amongst others, manage your revenue. The idea is to compare your operations against your competitors; operators of a similar size, or with a similar target market. Benchmarking is considered to be a major part of business development as it gives hotels a clear and thorough understanding of which things need to be achieved in order to be the best. The purpose of benchmarking is to learn from others and not to reinvent the wheel.

Hostel Business Tool Increase your revenue

Meet the STAY WYSE Board Hostel Skills Exchange Follow the latest update WYSTC 2011 Barcelona, September 20-23 The Hoscars UK to scrap star reviews

STAY WYSE has partnered with a benchmarking industry expert, the Benchmarking Alliance Nordic AB, and developed a benchmarking tool specifically for the hostel sector. The tool will, unlike hotel tools, allow competitor comparisons according to beds and rooms (the hotel sector currently only looks at rooms).

http:// staywyse.b ma.sgizmo .com/s3/

“The backpacker industry needs this new STAY WYSE tool to become as savvy as the hotel sector . To be able to compare our statistics to our competitors is crucial in growing our business and should be part of any hostel's strategy. “ Lorraine O’Reilly – hostelworld.com

In summary the tool will allow you to see what your competition is doing and by knowing this you will be able to adjust your rates to increase sales. To gauge the interest for such a tool, STAY WYSE is currently requesting hostel operators to complete the following short survey.

ARE YOU CARRYING THE STAY WYSE LOGO ON YOUR WEBSITE? It was agreed at the STAY WYSE AGM that all members would be required to carry the STAY WYSE logo and link to the STAY WYSE website on their website. A range of STAY WYSE Banners are available online for download for STAY WYSE members.

Highlight your membership of the only global forum for Youth Travel Accommodation providers and your dedication to providing safe, clean and affordable travel accommodation to your customers. Don’t forget to link to www.staywyse.org!

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HI launches new website Welcoming New Members Let STAY WYSE promote you online

MEET THE BOARD Chairperson

Ulises Ortega Mundo Joven Mexico

Board Members Lorraine O’Reilly Hostelworld Ireland Mikael Hansson Hostelling International United Kingdom David Chapman International Students House United Kingdom Steve Lowy Umi Hotels United Kingdom John Dickson Hostelling International United Kingdom

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NEWSLETTER MARCH 2011

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HOSTEL SKILLS EXCHANGE - REAPING THE BENEFITS It’s a tough call, saying who gained more here. Was it the founder of umihotels, Steve Lowy, with the cultural and charitable benefits that he received? Or was it Rachel and Simon of Rosy Guesthouse, who received a business tune-up in almost every area of their cosy hostel?

Let’s call it a draw, as the ISTC Skills Exchange wrapped up a very successful inaugural effort in Siem Reap, Cambodia earlier in February. Taking the expertise of a larger, more established hostel operator with its head office in London and pairing it with a small, active hostel in a Cambodian village was a great success for both parties.

The exchange was put together with the help of STAY WYSE and ISTC (the International Student Travel Confederation). With a number of interested candidates on both sides of the exchange, umihotels and Rosy’s were ultimately chosen. The project, which will take place again with new participants in the near future, has also caught the attention of the larger companies. David Smith COO of HostelBookers, underlines how important hostels can be in the developing world. “Hostels promote travelling and exchange opportunities among students, young people and anyone looking to volunteer and give something back, and as such we fully support this great initiative by STAY WYSE.” In that same spirit of volunteering and giving back, Steve spent ten days in the company of the owners of Rosy’s and the village as a whole, where he managed to make several charitable contributions and really felt the community spirit of the very hospitable locals.

As for Rosy’s, they received a wealth of business best practices that include better financial reporting, forecasting, and a seriously revamped website with the help of umi partners 2am media that benefits both the hostel and young travellers who will be making their travel plans from afar.

“The experience has been wonderful and I really hope that the work and help done both at the guesthouse, and at the charities, will be fruitful for all parties. From the minute I landed I have been so impressed with the warmth and friendliness of everyone here” – Steve Lowy, umihotels “The suggestions and push in the right direction in the office is invaluable and yet completely logical and something that we are already putting into practice and seeing results from since Steve has left” – Rachel Band, Rosy Guesthouse Instead of a draw, let’s call it a win-win!

To participate in a future Hostel Skills Exchange, please contact Laura Daly at l.daly@wysetc.org.

JOIN STAY WYSE AT WYSTC 2011 BARCELONA, SPAIN, 20-23 SEP! Each year, youth, student and educational travel industry professionals gather from around the world at WYSTC to network with fellow decision makers, take advantage of new market opportunities and learn from industry experts.

If you want to meet agents, buyers, suppliers and policy makers from around the world, then you can‘t afford to miss the next WYSTC! "The first conference we went to, Wake Up! was not yet opened and we took a huge financial risk. The fact that we attended WYSTC that year gave us so many contacts that within three weeks of opening the hostel, it was 80% full (of 500 beds). I have been the world’s biggest fan of WYSTC ever since."

Margaret Millett, Wake Up! Australia

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MARCH 2011

CONGRATULATIONS TO VILLA SONNENHOF For the second year running, STAY WYSE member Villa Sonnenhof was awarded the prize of top hostel in Switzerland based on the reviews from Hostelworld.com based on your reviews in 2010.

The Hoscar (Hostelworld.com Customers Annual Ratings) Awards now in their 9th year, recognise top hostels around the globe. Hosted by one of the UK & Ireland’s most popular TV presenter’s Craig Doyle, the 2011 Hoscars took place in London on 4th February and was the biggest awards ceremony to date, attended by 500 guests.

WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS! • Bakhytty Hostel - Kazakstan - 1-50 Beds • Woonstichting de Key - The Netherlands 1000-4999 Beds • Farah Hotel - Jordan - 51-100 Beds • Milhouse Hostel - Argentina - 200-999 Beds • Azure Property Investments - Luxembourg 200-999 Beds • Unreal Hostel Lisbon - Portugal - 51-100 Beds • 92Y Residence - USA - 200-999 Beds • Rosy Guesthouse - Cambodia 1-50 Beds

U K S E T T O S C R A P S TA R RATINGS IN FAVOUR OF USER REVIEWS STAR Ratings Australia may have stopped grading backpacker accommodation, but the UK is set to go a step further and drop star ratings altogether. The Government’s tourism strategy, due out shortly, is expected to recommend phasing out the official star rating system for hotels in favour of user reviews online.

Tourism minister John Penrose Said: “The current official ratings systems are too often unreliable and unfair not only for the industry but for the consumer too. So we will encourage any rating schemes or customer websites that improve the quality of information which visitors can use to choose the right holiday for them, so they make informed choices rather than discovering problems when it is too late.”

Source: http://bit.ly/eTPgLr

HI LAUNCHES REFRESHED SITE Hostelling International (HI) has launched a new and improved version of hihostels.com. The website has been refreshed to reflect HI’s new brand image and it also includes some additional features, as well as improved usability.

HI’s new brand image has a contemporary look, using black and orange colours with the marketing strap lines: ‘Discover the real hostel experience’ and ‘Say HI to the world’. This new brand image is in steady progress being used in all HI’s marketing and communications, both online and for printed materials.

There are not any major changes to the booking engine and the functionality on the website, but the “look and feel” is brand new. The homepage has become more attractive, customer ratings and reviews are given more attention, and tab navigation has been introduced on the hostel pages.

LET STAY WYSE PROMOTE YOU ONLINE STAY WYSE regularly promotes our members on all our social networks. Want to benefit from this too? Join us on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and You Tube!

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Pssst ;-)