USING REVIEWS TO BOOST DIRECT BOOKINGS
Most businesses accept that online reputation management is – or should be – an important part of their business strategy, but why exactly, and how does it apply to the hotel and hostel industry? To celebrate their attendance at the HostelSkills #2 Conference in sunny Barcelona, our friends from Customer Alliance have taken a deeper…
Read Article →
HOW TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE HOSTEL EXPERIENCE
The way people travel has changed dramatically over the last several years. In the last 5 years, the emergence of Generation Y, digital nomadism, hospitality sites such as AirBnB and CouchSurfing, coupled with a shift in traveller’s values had made it a very exciting time for the hostel industry. By Daniel Beaumont, Podstel For the last…
Read Article →
MY HOSTEL IS A SOUVENIR FROM MY JOURNEYS
We are only as good as people that value our work, and we are proud to have some amazing ones join us. Cathrin Eßbach of Penthouse Backpackers Osnabrück, Germany, is in love with traveling, and this love inspired her to make a career of hosting people that come to her lovely city. Here is a…
Read Article →
PODSTEL – THE COMMUNITY HOSTEL
What makes a great hostel? Daniel and Sam traveled the world to find out. Hello everyone, We are Daniel Beaumont and Sam Cooper, the founders of Podstel. In 2012, we had a huge dream to start a hostel so decided to embark on an adventure around the world to discover what makes a great…
Read Article →
5 REASONS GOING TO CONFERENCES IS WORTH IT
When it comes to conferences, there are two types of people. Ones attend them all and don’t need convincing when an opportunity to mingle, network and gain some new insights arises. Others are more prone to thinking that all you need to learn you can do online, and if you dig deep enough, even for…
Read Article →
TEAMING UP WITH OTHER HOSTELS AND WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT
The market and the number of consumers constantly grow and, as a result, the competition is ever greater. It’s like sports. Teaming up is the way to win. Producers (and hostel owners are one, as service is a type of product) have a never ending task of improving their end product and trying to diversify…
Read Article →
SOCIAL PAY IN HOSTELS? MAKE THE BEST OF IT!
Followers are currency. Is your hostel accepting it? Travel blogging is hugely popular. Some of the most followed Instagram accounts are those of globetrotters, wanderlusts, and backpackers. So, if you have a hostel, this is one of the absolutely best promotion channels for you. Travelers inspire other travelers. Social media is where they look for…
Read Article →
CHANNEL MANAGER – WHAT’S THAT?
It’s always good time to go over the basics. And this really is a basic in our industry. There’s this thing called channel manager to help you out. TRAVELERS ARE EVERYWHERE, IT’S YOUR JOB TO REACH THEM As we have mentioned in other posts (and we will probably do it again, as it is important…
Read Article →
MANAGING YOUR HOSTEL – HOW TO MAKE ADDITIONAL PROFIT
When you run a business, you are always on a lookout for improvements. At some point, the results of a business plan you implemented that turned out to be a perfect decision will start to fade and you will find out you can improve on it ever so more. For example, in hostel business, it’s…
Read Article →
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INTERNET | IDEAS FOR REACHING MORE CUSTOMERS
In recent years, if you don’t have a strong online presence, it’s as if you don’t exist at all. And as ever more websites and hostels come to being (in 2014, according to Qmee, each minute, 571 new websites were created and that was a year ago!), you need more and more time and energy invested…
Read Article →
