European Hostel Cooperation Newsletter August/September 2007

Welcome to the European Hostel Cooperation Newsletter for August/September 2007. In this edition we have news of a very special cooperation with the Moving Slowly project, an inspiration humanitarian journey across the Americas, as well as a round-up of what is new at the EHC and other news from across the European Hostel scene. Please remember, if you would like anything included in future editions of the EHC Newsletter, make sure you drop us a note at info@gomio.com.

In 2005 Massimo & Fabio, co-owners of the Home Hostels, Spain, hostel group, & members of the European Hostel Cooperation, set out from Valencia to drive across the African continent in a brightly painted Citroen called Mehari.

The idea of the trip was to get back to the real roots of travel – breaking the bubble of the backpacker world and truly interacting & affecting with their surroundings. There was also a humanitarian aspect as all money raised through sponsorship, t-shirt sales & donations were put directly into actions along the way. Fabio & Massimo paid all trip costs & all t-shirt production costs so as to guarantee all monies go directly to the projects needed.

Along the way from Valencia – South Africa the Movingslowly project was able to provide chairs for classrooms, water for orphanages, clothing/toys for those they met etc. Their purpose is not to change the world – but to affect it where they can as they continue on their travels.

In October 2007 the boys will be heading out on the road again, this time loading up Mehari the bright green Citroen and shipping it to Argentina. From here they will drive upwards through South America – again stopping wherever they see local needs. The EHC is proud to be a sponsor of Moving Slowly, and is helping raise funds for the next stage of the Moving Slowly adventure.

We are aiming to raise €5000 to hand over before the trip, to help these guys on their inspirational journey. For examples as to how the money can be used – something as little as €10 will provide footballs for children living in an orphanage, whilst €500 can guarantee clean water supplies for the near future.

To donate online, please use the form at: www.gomio.com/ehc/donate-form.aspx . Between us all we can help the guys make a difference on their long trip.

To see details of the route from Argentina, or read about the first trip to Africa, visit: www.movingslowly.com

We are pleased to announce that we now offer hostels and guests the chance to change the currencies on GOMIO.COM. This means the traveller can compare prices in their own currency, whilst hostels can set their prices in the currency of their own country.

Hostels who wish to change the currency that is displayed for their hostel on GOMIO.COM can do so within the Management System at:

A quick reminder about something that was announced in the last edition of the EHC Newsletter. Hostels on GOMIO.COM can now be booked in five different languages - English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. We would like to ask all our members to also add information on their hostel in these languages by going into the Managementsystem > Hostel > Microsite, and then click on the relevant flag and fill in the information. If you have any questions about that, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

As regular readers of the European Hostel Cooperation Newsletter will know, the next European Hostel Meeting will be held in Barcelona on the 1-2nd March 2008. As well as inviting suggestions for seminar topics and things to be covered at the meeting, the EHC is also looking for sponsors.

If you are interested in sponsoring one of the most important meetings of European hostel owners, managers and staff in Europe, as well as many others attached to this scene of ours, then please contact us in the office at info@gomio.com.

Which brings us neatly to the Contact Us section of the newsletter. As always, we love to hear your feedback on the newsletter or anything else…so if you want to make contact, you can do so in the following ways:

European Hostel Cooperation
Schwedter Str. 227
10435 Berlin
Germany

Telephone: +49 (0) 30 2462 8500
Email: info@gomio.com.

A new website has been launched, created by a couple of guys from the CityStay Hostel in Berlin and their friends, that aims to provide travellers with city and travel information for destinations around the world. Users can add their favourite bars, restaurants, museums and more to the database, and can use these and other people’s suggestions to build a travel map of their perfect “day trip”. The maps can then be sent to their friends, or left open for the whole community to use as travel inspiration.

But what might be interesting for hostels is the “Group Function”. In this way, a hostel can create their own city map with their location, closest transport links, recommended bars and cafes, favourite spots…anything they like. A link can then be sent to their guests – for example with booking emails – that allows their guests to join the group and access the knowledge and recommendations of the staff before they arrive in the city. The community functions mean they can contact the hostel members active on the site, and other travellers on the group who may also be arriving soon or have just left and have recommendations of their own.

For more information and to see how it works, visit www.mydaytrip.com.

Michael Lottes from the Lollis Homestay in Dresden contacted us this month to pass on some information which might be of interest to whoever it is at your hostel that has the task of distributing flyers around Europe:

As many of you might know, a number of the German hostels have been sending their flyers out together twice a year, which they have found saves not only time and work, but money – as much as 50%. The system works by hostels sending their total amount of flyers they wish to distribute to the Lollis Homestay in Dresden, where they pack them together, address them, and send them out again to hostels all over Europe. The system worked so well, that they have decided to open the Flyer Exchange to everyone.

There is more information online at www.flyerexchange.de.vu, the login codes are User: test, and Password: test. Michael adds that in order for the flyers to be sent out in October, they need to arrive in Dresden no later than October 15th. Of course, if you have more questions about the flyer exchange, you can always email Michael at: office@lollishome.de.

On the weekend of Sunday 12th August the Bundesliga and Premiership kicked off, but all football interest in Berlin was on a sportsfield in Berlin-Friedrichshain, where nine teams from hostels across the city gathered to compete for the 2007 Berlin Hostel Cup. The rain may have fallen on these brave athletes, but the atmosphere was good and the quality of play on show high.

Home team heroes the A&O Friedrichshain won the final, 2-0 versus the Meininger Hostel team. In the 3rd Place Play-Off the 1st Floor Hostel emerged triumphant, in a 1-0 victory against the combined Circus-St Christopher’s team. The other valiant competitors on a great day were; the A&O Zoo, the Citystay, the Generator, the All In Hostel and the A&O Alte Herren. Congratulations on all who took part…and if other such events go on around Europe, let us know so we can include them in future editions of the EHC Newsletter.

We were sent information this month about another new website that might be of interest to hostel owners around Europe. The aim of hostelhog.com is to provide links to different products that might be of interest to hostel owners – such as beds, internet access providers and so on, as well as a link exchange programme and a backpacker jobs forum.

If you want more information, then check out the website directly at www.hostelhog.com.

The East Seven Hostel (Berlin) and the Czech Inn (Prague) featured in a brief travel article in the Chicago Tribune ( http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0812newsinbriefaug12,0,1966143.story. ). Meanwhile, a new “hostel” was opened briefly in Oslo, as two branches of IKEA offered flat-pack overnight stays for some lucky shoppers. More info: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/jul/13/travelnews.norway.

If your hostel appears in the media, whatever the language, let us know and we’ll put it in a future edition of the EHC Newsletter.

Topics

Specials

Archive