Czech youth hostels join the club |
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Czech youth hostels join the club |
2006-07-25 20:52:56 |
| autor: Chris Gill |
Cash-strapped backpackers have long considered the Czech Republic to be the perfect budget travel destination. Yet it was only earlier this month that the Czech Republic Youth Hostel Association (CzYHA) was awarded full member status within the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) at their biennial conference, held July 13?16 in Davos, Switzerland.
Overall, the tourism industry in the Czech Republic is growing, with over 6.35 million people visiting the country in 2005, a 4.5 percent increase over the visitor numbers of 2004. According to the Czech Statistical Office (?SÚ), income from tourism amounted to K? 111 billion (nearly ? 4 billion) in 2005.
Many of these international visitors seek accommodation in one of the cheap, comfortable youth hostels across the country. This type of accommodation is increasingly popular, according to Karin Seligová, a spokeswoman for state tourism promotion agency CzechTourism. ?When we compare visitor numbers according to type of accommodation, we find 50 percent of tourists seek accommodation in hostels, hotels and pensions of three stars or less,? she said. Hostels are popular among foreign students and young people who don?t have much money, but like to travel. This is part of a global trend, Seligová added. Indeed, the CzYHA, which operates on a yearly budget of K? 300,000, currently has 18 member hostels across the country offering over 1,300 beds. These hostels get 25,000 visitors a year.
The popularity of youth hostels, of which there are 70 in Prague, can be attributed to their low prices, with a dormitory bed in summertime costing around K? 400 per night. ?From my experience people stay in youth hostels for two reasons: the first is price, the second is to meet people and share traveling stories. But mainly it?s the low prices,? said V?ra Šimková, who has co-owned and managed the Boathouse hostel in Prague 4 for 15 years.
Czech youth hostels are also currently reliant on multinational travel companies, such as the U.K.-based Web Reservations International, which does business under the brand name HostelWorld, to reach a worldwide clientele. Via that company?s HostelWorld.com Web site, customers can access information about hostels and book their bed before they arrive.
The Web site also features a rating system, whereby visitors can assess their stay in categories such as ?cleanliness? and ?fun.? Šimková says she likes the system. ?The ratings are important. Many of our guests admit to ? only checking the [hostels] with the good ratings,? she said.
Czechs, however, have not been big users of hostels. Jakub Vosáhlo, executive secretary of the CzYHA, expects this scenario to change. He told CBW that, since IYHF has granted the branch full member status, his organization can begin promoting to Czechs the benefits of staying in hostels. ?It will be a big step for development of hostelling in our country,? he said. |
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