THE 7TH EUROPEAN HOSTEL MEETING
MARCH 1st – 3rd, 2008
in Barcelona
presented by
the European Hostel Cooperation and the Barcelona Hostel
MARCH 1st, 2008
WELCOME DRINKS
20:00-23:00
Directions
Come meet the folks of the European Hostel Cooperation, have a few drinks and network with other meeting participants at the Kabul Hostel www.kabul.es . This will be your chance to catch up with old friends and meet new faces.
MARCH 2nd , 2008
THE 7TH EUROPEAN HOSTEL MEETING
8:30 - 18:00
Directions
Registration starts bright & early at 8:30am at the beautiful modernist building Casa Convalescència in the Hospital Sant Pau.
We are very happy to include the following presentations & workshops (and more!) throughout the day:
Green Hostels
The workshop “Green Hostels” deals with the smart use of energy and water in a time where it is very important to be mentioned. It shows how to save money and increase comfort at the same time. Simple tools and measurements to increase operational safety and other useful hints for low budget are presented by Mathias Schwender – the owner of Sir Toby’s Hostel –as well as the Swiss energy experts Urs and Markus.
Hospitality in Hostels
“Hospitality in Hostels” gives an insight in the meaning, the use and the importance of hospitality especially for Hostels, shown in the example of USE-it. After talking about the current evolutions in hospitality, Tobias de Pessemier – a USE-it member - will end his workshop with presenting a European Tourist Info Network for Young people.
The Difficulties encountered by Regional Hostels in the Face of Bad Publicity
Hostels in less famous parts of Europe have difficulties promoting themselves for various reasons. Many travellers assume that it is too difficult to reach these destinations or that they won’t be able to find English speakers. Others suffer from bad media publicity which creates preconceptions of the place. This workshop will look at the different problems encountered by the hostels and how they manage to attract guests. It will be presented by Robert Coghlan from Agorà Hostel, Sophia Lizzio from Soph & Chris Northern Backpackers and Sveta from Envoy Hostel.
Associations Meeting
Once again the EHC wants to offer a forum for discussion and presentation of the already existing national hostel networks. What are the characteristics of each network? Where can we get together on a European or even global level? Is networking in general effective? These are some of the questions we would like to answer. Last year’s workshop showed that there is a great interest; let’s see what we can do with it!
Stimulate more revenue via ancillary products & partnerships
Michael Hughes, the managing director of ‘Consultants Collective’, has 19 years of experience in the tourism industry. He shows how to profile potential neighbouring businesses to become part of your product mix and revenue development strategy. Businesses as insurances or car hire can help you to optimize your profits. He also gives some hints to avoid pitfalls by using niches versus mainstream.
Make sure to bring your business cards to be included in a special prize draw where you can win 1 weeks Luxury car hire worldwide!
GOMIO.COM
Representatives from GOMIO.COM review upcoming developments with the portal as well as all the options available when adding your hostel to this portal. This is also your chance to learn more about the GOMIO.COM International phone card.
‘Pay per Click’ and ‘Search Engine Ranking’ are no longer the only opportunities for Internet sales in the tourism sector.
Ranking in search engines (SEO) and Pay per Click campaigns (PPC) remain important so that companies in the tourism sector can generate sales through the internet, but these are no longer the only strategies for Internet Marketing. Soraya García, Senior CEO/ Sales Manager of Internet Advantage, will explain how in this sector, which evolves constantly, it is necessary to keep yourself up to date with the latest trends and tendencies to generate traffic and sales through the Web.
Get Connected
Get inspired and find new ways to co-operate with hostels in your city and how to connect with hostels by identity and style on a European or global level. Guy Verlinde shows some alternative and innovative ideas on co-operating on a local level to have some counter weight against the city funded hostels or big independent hostels in your city. You get some good practices of connecting with hostels who have the same philosophy, style, identity followed by a preview of the first hostel communications tool developed by InsideOut and EHC to let the hostels communicate and develop there own network.
Financial Management for Hostels
The presentation is an introduction to the importance and benefits of prioritizing financial management at your hostel presented by Michael Tumminia and Chris Syvertsen. It deals e.g. with financial management, budgeting, budget formulation and monitoring and the use of accountant or bookkeepers, so you learn how to work with your money more effective.
New Horizon II – Global Study Release
The New Horizons Global Study - the second such study into the travel habits, characteristics and motivations of young travellers - was released on the 3rd October 2007 at the World Youth and Student Travel Conference in Istanbul. Greg Richards delivers an insight in his studies and results such as the average spending, the number of online bookings and the purposes of travelling and many more.
Travel 2.0, User created content
What exactly is Travel 2.0?
The importance of User Generated Content in the growing low budget Travel industry and which tools are used to benefit from these new developments. Is it really worth bothering about this?
Travis from Bugbitten and Frank from Maydaytrip.com will present you all opportunities of this new form of communication and possibilities of networking within the industry and the customer.
Hottest trends in hostels IT technology & online travel
Internet is now acknowledged as a major driving force for the travel industry and underpins much of the way we do business today.
With IT Technology and Online Travel evolving on such a fast pace, the hostel community need to know what the newest trends will be so that their sites remain competitive. This seminar will be covering the most recent advances to show people how to use technology to maximize business advantage.
Conference hosted by Sulcus.
MARCH 2nd, 2008
THE EUROPEAN HOSTEL MEETING… PARTY!
21:30- ?
Directions
This is your chance to put on your dancing shoes and let your hair down at the legendary European Hostel Meeting Party. We do what we do best… Party… and of course Networking! Please note that the location has changed. Now it will take place in the famous Sala BeCool.
To fuel your anticipation, have a look at http://salabecool.com/becool.php.
MARCH 3rd, 2008
THE EUROPEAN HOSTEL TRADE FAIR & BRUNCH
10:00 – 16:00
Directions
This years’ meeting includes again the unique opportunity to showcase your own hostel/business. There are still tables available for this event, but are going fast – so please make sure to let us know if you would like to take part in this. There will be also a free flyer exchange. Of course, this is not just for the tables – this day gives you the opportunity to complete your networking objectives, schedule meetings, exchange flyers & relax with a delicious Brunch with Spanish specialities again at the Casa Convalescència in the Hospital Sant Pau.