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Hello folks and welcome to the June/July newsletter from the EHC. We were slightly
delayed, and that is the reason it straddles the months, as we had some interesting
things to put in the newsletter but we wanted to wait until we had everything
before we sent it out. But we got it together in the end, and here it is.
Don’t
forget, if you are bored one day and you would like to read the previous EHC
newsletters, you go see the archive at www.gomio.com/newsletter. |
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| Hostelling and Tourism News |
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Swiss Backpacking Research
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Some of our friends in Switzerland told us about a research project into backpacking
in that country that was carried out between 2001 and 2004 by the Unite d’Enseignement
et de Recherche en Tourisme (UERT) which is part of the University of Lausanne.
We contact UERT and they were kind enough to send us a summary of the research
findings in English.
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The research was organised in response to perceived ignorance of the backpacker
market by the Swiss Tourism authorities, and the fact that the potential of
this market niche was being overlooked. The UERT working party put together
a report to tackle this problem, through visits to hostels, an exploration
of the different types of backpacker accommodation, as well as interviews with
hostel managers and backpackers visiting Switzerland.
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The work group interviewed 320 backpackers across Switzerland between 2001 and
2004, and some of the findings include:
- Average age 26
- Average length of stay in Switzerland: 2 weeks
- Average daily expenditure: CHF 90
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Other sections of the UERT report include a chapter on ‘quality approach’ for
accommodation providers and the possibility of creating a specific label for
backpackers. Also there is an exploration of Swiss nationals using hostels in
their own country, the positive benefits of backpacker culture on international
communication and understanding, the long term benefits for Swiss tourism as
a whole that can be created by promoting backpacker tourism, and the importance
of an organised network for backpacking in Switzerland.
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We would like to thank Vincent Matthey for providing us with the overview of
the research, and anyone who is interested in more information can email UERT
at uert@unil.ch or visit the website at www.hec.unil.ch.
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New and Improved Hostels
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The guys behind the Argonaut Hostel in Riga, Latvia, have just opened the
doors on their new place, the Barons, which is also in Riga. The website
has some pictures of the new place, and of Riga as well, so if you want
to take a peek at Latvia’s newest addition, then visit www.baronsbb.com.
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The Nathans Villa Hostel in Krakow (www.nathansvilla.com) is getting a facelift,
and we thought we’d let you know. Nathan told us that most of the renovations
are complete, with the bar and the kitchen to be finished by the start of August.
Sounds great, and when the renovations are finished they will be also hosting
the Photohype travelling photography exhibition from Geo Oliver. You can check
out his work at www.photohype.com.
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Female Hostels
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Cathrin from the Penthouse Backpackers in Osnabrueck let us know about a website
that specifically lists hostels that are owned and run by women. How did this
come about? She told us that ‘the guests of the Penthouse Backpackers in Osnabrueck
were rapt by the amount of flowers, the little decoration details, the sunflowers
in the bathrooms or the many cushions around the TV’.
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Surprised by the reaction, she asked some of her guests what it was that made
them like these little details so much, and the answer she got was that they ‘appreciated
the home feeling, like being at mum’s’. Through meeting other hostel owners
she realised that the ‘female touch’ was the best name to describe the phenomenon,
and so, femalehostels.de was born.
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These hostels, owned and run by women, decided to band together on a website
so that those ‘who are looking for a temporary mum can find the hostels with
the female touch easier’. And so they can, if they visit www.femalehostels.de.
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Rogue Hostels in Australia
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An article in the Sunday Times newspaper on June 19th brought to attention the
risk to travellers in Australia from the number of ‘rouge hostels’ that have
emerged, with the Australian Tourism Export Council estimating that in Sydney
alone there are about 100 ‘shonky’ hostels offering over 1300 beds.
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The problem is that in Australia there is no law that says a hostel or other
accommodation provider must be licensed to take in paying guests, according
to the Sunday Times article, but there is increasing concern that many of these
hostels do not meet minimum standards of fire regulations, number of occupants
to a room, and other health and safety requirements.
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This issue has become even more important in Australia because of fires in a
number of hostels over the last few years that have put many hostellers in
danger and have even cost some lives.
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You can read the article online on the Sunday Times website at:
www.timesonline.co.uk
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Youth and Student Accommodation Workshop in Berlin
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The First Youth and Student Accommodation Workshop is taking place in Berlin
at the end of August, and the organisers asked us to include a note about it
in the newsletter;
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"Accommodation is the core of tourism and often proves to be the success or failure
of a journey whether backpacking, in a group or with family. The First Youth
and Student Accommodation Workshop (www.ysaw.org) brings umbrella organizations,
accommodation executives and service providers (i.e. tour operators) together
to create business networks and exchange views about the industry’s future.
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Throughout Europe different initiatives are being used to develop regional and
national quality standards. This is mainly an attempt to organize their own
market and to profile themselves. At YSAW you will gain a better understanding
of these initiatives and have the opportunity to discuss the feasibility of
similar ‘rules’ for your own market.
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The outputs of the working groups will be taken into consideration by BITS (www.bits-int.org)
when formulating its recommendation about possible youth travel regulations
to the European Union at the end of this year."
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For more information about the workshop, including attendance and contact details,
check out the website at: www.ysaw.org.
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Easy Hotel Launches
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The first in a new breed of low-budget, no frills hotels called EasyHotel (from
the same people who gave us Easyjet) opens in London in August, a development
that might be of interest to hostels in London, and in other towns where EasyHotel
hopes to expand the idea to.
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The hotels have small double rooms, the vast majority without even windows, but
they can offer a room in the centre of London for around £10 (approx €15) per
night. The plan, according to the article in HostelMarketing.com is to expand
the idea in the UK and internationally, with the first overseas branch due
to open in September in Basel, Switzerland.
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For more information on this new player in the low budget accommodation market,
you can read the whole article online at:
www.hotelmarketing.com
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| European Hostel Cooperation News |
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GOMIO.COM European Tour
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If you have been looking at the website recently you will have seen that we have
begun a GOMIO.COM European Tour for the summer of 2005, which will take members
of the EHC and GOMIO.COM team around the continent, to hostels and different
events, to throw parties and promote the website. We started here in Berlin
with the Christopher St Day Parade and a party in the Circus Hostel, and you
can read a report and check out some photos of the fun we had at www.gomio.com/tour05.
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For the rest of the summer we will be throwing parties in places all over Europe,
handing out goodies to the guests, and of course, visiting the hostels in all
the towns and cities that we pass through. The dates that are so far confirmed
are as follows:
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24th - 25th June: Christopher Street Day Parade and a party at the Circus Hostel
in Berlin (details below).
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9th-10th July: Pamplona, Spain for the Running of the Bulls at the San Fermin Festival.
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14th - 21st July: Rome and Venice, Italy, where we will host special GOMIO.COM
parties at PLUS Camping Villages, including what promises to be an infamous Toga
Party in Venice.
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28th - 30th July: We visit Amsterdam for a party at the Bulldog Hostel
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23rd - 31st August: The Spanish leg of the tour with parties at the Centric Point
in Barcelona, the Nest Hostel in Valenica, and a trip to get messy at La Tomatina
festival.
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7th - 9th September: We hit the French capital for a GOMIO.COM Party in Paris,
at the Caulaincourt Hostel.
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14th - 16th September: Next stop Copenhagen, where the Sleep In Heaven will
be the venue for a party with loads of exciting giveaways
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29th - 30th September: Of course, no European Tour would be complete without
a trip to Munich for the Oktoberfest, Cheers!
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As well as the ones above that are confirmed, we are working out the details
for events in Dublin, Edinburgh, Dresden, Prague, London and Cologne. All these
parties will include drinks offers, excellent DJs, and special prices and giveaways.
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If you are in or near to any of the places that we are visiting this summer,
and you want to meet up with some of the GOMIO.COM crew, then just get in contact
with us in the office.
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Affiliate Programme
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The first stage of the GOMIO.COM affiliate programme is finally complete,
and our first affiliate partner is making beds available online. The affiliate
programme is basically a way for other websites to use the GOMIO.COM booking
engine to sell beds online, and what this will do is make those hostels that
work with GOMIO.COM available in more places.
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The hostel doesn’t need to do anything, as the availabilities are taken from
the GOMIO.COM management system, and of course, there remains no fees or commissions
for bookings that come through affiliate websites. The affiliate will receive
a proportion of the booking fee that goes to GOMIO.COM, but as always, we remain
committed to bookings that are commission-free for the hostels.
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If you want to see an example of the affiliate programme in action, have a look
at the website of the Backpacker Network Germany at: www.backpackernetwork.de.
If you would like some more information about the affiliate programme, then
just drop us a line in the office.
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Smart Access for Internet Terminals
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If you have internet terminals in your reception, and are interested in software
which can manage the access to the internet for your guests, then you might
be interested in this. The European Hostel Cooperation has teamed up with www.ton-tauben.de
to offer a free software that can be used to set up secure internet access
on your guest computers, control access and let the guests pay for the internet
time, all of which can be controlled from your reception staff computer.
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The fees for installing the software are covered by the EHC, and in exchange
the default website on the terminals is GOMIO.COM, and you will be able to
download the software from the GOMIO.COM management system. So if you are looking
for a system to control internet access for your guests in your hostel then
this might be a good solution for you. So, if you are interested, send us a
quick email to info@gomio.com and we will send you some more information.
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Research Project
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At the meeting in Prague and in the last newsletter we have been looking
at the possibility of putting together a research project throughout the
hostels of Europe. There were two main reasons for this:
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- this would create some data and information about the European hostelling
market that could be used in representations to third parties such as tourism
authorities or governments, and:
- that it would give hostels themselves info about the nature of the guests
that stay in hostels across Europe.
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In the meeting review we attached a sample questionnaire that we could base our
research on, and we asked for any hostels interested in taking part in the
survey to get in contact with us, and make suggestions as to what we could
ask, and what they would like to find out from our guests. We got some responses,
but not as many as we’d hoped for, so we thought we would ask again.
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If anyone is interested in helping with the questionnaire they should take a
look at the ideas we had, and then get in contact with Paul in the office at
paul.scraton@gomio.com. The draft of the questionnaire can be downloaded here:
www.gomio.com/downloads.
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So let us know what you think.
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Contact the European Hostel Cooperation
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As always we love to here from you, and if you want to get in contact with
us, to make suggestions for the next newsletter, to tell us about something
that you think we should include, or just to have a chat, this is how you
can do it:
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The European Hostel Cooperation GmbH
Johannisstrasse 2
10117 Berlin
Germany
Telephone: + 49 (0) 30 2462 8500
Email: info@gomio.com.
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| Special Report: The European Hostels Tsunami Appeal |
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Overview
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After the horrific events in South East Asia following the earthquake and tsunami
last December, a number of hostels and the EHC came together to raise money
for an appeal. Originally we wanted to give the money raised to Medecins sans
Frontieres. However, they told us very quickly that they were unable to take
any more donations for their tsunami appeal, such was the massive response
from people from around the world.
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We were then approached by Mathias Schwender from the Sir Toby’s Hostel in Prague,
who knew of a project in Sri Lanka which needed help following the impact of
the tsunami on that island. We approached the hostels involved with the appeal,
and Mathias offered to pay for himself to go to Sri Lanka to bring the money,
and make a report as to how the money that was raised by the appeal was being
spent.
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Sri Lanka Relief Program
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Mathias had a personal contact in Sri Lanka, Pastor Devapriya, whom he met
a few years ago when he was in Sri Lanka. The tsunami had a devastating effect
on the village of Korallawella where Pastor Devapriya has his church, which
included 30 families house that were wiped out. In the aftermath of the tsunami,
it was decided that there were three important steps that needed to be undertaken:
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- Immediate Relief - included daily food supplies, plus medicines and toiletries,
especially for those whose homes were completely destroyed.
- Resettlement Relief - Supplying those whose houses were not totally destroyed
to clean-up, repair and get back to work. Also, there was a need for uniforms
and books so that the kids could go back to school.
- Long-term Help - Land and housing for those who lost everything, plus
equipment to allow the fishermen to go back to work, materials for new houses.
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Throughout the hostels in Europe that took part in the tsunami appeal we managed
to raise €3500 which Mathias took to Sri Lanka last month to contribute to
the relief and re-building effort in Korallawella. Below you can see some photos
of the work that is being done there with the money that we raised, as well
as a short film that Mathias made in Sri Lanka that can also be downloaded.
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Photos and Film Download
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If you would like to watch a short film that Mathias made to explain
exactly how and where the money was used in Sri Lanka, then you can do
so here as a Windows Media File
low quality - 28 MB |
medium - 58 MB |
high quality - 144 MB
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| building project for Tsunami affected families |
at the refugee camp of families that lost their houses by the beach |
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| Beena is showing Mathias the completed houses of Tsunami affected families |
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| The house of this family got totally destroyed. Inside their new house |
Beena, Pastor of the church there and Mathias' host during his time in Sri Lanka |
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| talking about the EHC and the appeal at Beena's church |
In Beena's church |
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| Sany, a carpenter. He is telling the story of when the Tsunami came. He lost his house at the beach. |
This is where many members of Beena's church lived before the Tsunamis |
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| Children at the Montessori kindergarden |
Beena is telling the families from the Montessori (kindergarden) about the food donations from the EHC |
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| New houses for Tsunami affected families are being built |
the site where the Tsunamis hit the hardest |
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Picking up food donations that were bought with money from the collection of the EHC |
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Special Thanks
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Of course, the EHC would like to thank Mathias from the Sir Toby’s
Hostel in Prague for going to Sri Lanka and making this report of how the
money that was raised was spent, but most off all we would like to thank the
following hostels who took part in the appeal and raised money for the Sri Lanka
Relief Program:
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City Hostel (Geneva, Switzerland), New International (Antwerp,
Belgium), Lazy Duck Hostel (Nethy Bridge, Scotland), Krumlov House (Cesky
Krumlov, Czech Republic), Circus Hostel (Berlin, Germany), Lausanne
Guesthouse (Lausanne, Switzerland), Sleepy Lion and Central Globetrotter (Leipzig,
Germany), Kinlay House (Cork, Ireland), Backpackers Villa Sonnenhof (Interlaken,
Switzerland), Lette’m Sleep (Nuremberg, Germany), Kabul Hostel (Barcelona,
Spain), Heart of Gold and Helter Skelter (Berlin, Germany), Ashlee
House (London, England), and the Bern Backpackers (Bern, Switzerland).
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Thanks again for raising so much money!
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