Swiss youth hostels reported positive results for the past summer season from May to October. As compared to the previous summer, overnight stays increased by 2.4 percent. 51 facilities registered 620.281 guest-nights.
The increase in the number of stays can be attributed to the wide variety of people who stay in hostels. Youth hostels attract visitors from a variety of countries, age groups and backgrounds.
Guests from Switzerland represent the biggest group of travelers opting for youth hostels – 59.2 % of all overnight guests. The numbers regarding German visitors are also very positive – the amount of guests from Germany who stayed overnight increased by 2.9% year-on-year.
Internationally, China and South Korea are important source markets as well. Both countries showed an increase of about 28 % in guest-nights. Travelers from Germany amounted to 10.7% of all summer guests in the Swiss youth hostels while Chinese represented 2.1% and the South-Koreans 2%.
Excluding franchises, the 44 Swiss youth hostels currently in operation recorded a total revenue of 25.9 million Swiss Francs (EUR 21 million) over the summer season, which is + 1.4% compared to the summer last year. These hostels recorded 507.303 guest nights (+1.6 %). The representatives of the Swiss youth hostels expect that this trend will continue.
Today, there is a total of 53 Swiss youth hostels. Two of them are still being built; seven hostels are managed by franchisees.