Popularity of US hostels going to rise?

[Kimee129]

I know that European hostels are very popular. Do you think that US hostels will ever catch on? I have travelled through the majority of Europe and stayed at dozens of hostels. I love the feel of meeting new people and experiencing their cultures. My American friends who haven't travelled or rather who haven't "budget" travelled through Europe as I have don't understand the concept.

I guess my real question is. I am interested in opening a hostel in Eastern Tennessee (Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge) or Cherokee, NC on the Indian Reservation there. It is near the Great Smokey Mountains and the Appalachian Trail. When I tell my friends what I am interested in they ask why? Why not open a Bed and Breakfast or a small hotel. I am afraid this is most of the american idea. They don't understand budget travel.

Since the American Dollar is so low right now, do you think that area would bring in enough international travellers to sustain it? I guess with the proper marketing tools it could succeed.

[Hostels]

I think that hostels are already quietly catching on in the USA.

Example city: in 2005 Miami had just 3 hostels, and most of them weren't rated very well. The number of hostels was shrinking at that time. Now Miami has at least 7 hostels. Five of those seven hostels have a rating of 80% or higher on Hostelworld.com.

I regularly get emails from people who are in the process of opening hostels in the USA or who would like to open a hostel. I think hostels are finally starting to catch on.

Tourism to the USA is already rising. The only problem is transportation, but if you are relatively near a highway or major attraction (like the Smokies or AT) I think people will go there.

[Tim]

Hostels generally appeal to international travellers. That's why you'll rarely see an Australian staying in an Australian hostel or a Dutch traveller in a Dutch hostel. Because of this, it is important to research destinations that appeal to international visitors. I am sure that the destination you have in mind is really nice, but it isn't widely known among international visitors to the United States.

An exceptional hostel could do well anywhere, and a hostel in a smaller destination could do well if it is on a major travel route or if it is marketed through hostels around five or six hours away. From looking at a map, you will have your work cut out for you. However an outstanding purpose-built place in a nice setting could do well through word-of-mouth and could even become a destination in itself.

I think it may be easier to find a big city with no hostels (or just a few hostels) and open a hostel there, although it may not be the place you want to live long-term. Places like Kansas City, Des Moines, Omaha, Memphis, Cinncinatti, etc. Or perhaps look at places close to national parks that have a higher international profile like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or Yosemite.

Public transport may be an issue, although a lot of international travellers buy a car to drive cross country or move cars for the auto-driveaway companies. However a bigger city with good bus or train connections will attract many more guests.

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by Tim

However an outstanding purpose-built place in a nice setting could do well through word-of-mouth and could even become a destination in itself.

Plakian's hostel is a good example of "hostel as a destination". The hostel is in a place that I had never heard of, but a couple of backpackers mentioned it to me when I was in the more-crowded north coast of Crete. I think the nearest bank machine to the hostel was a 30-minute bus ride away.

I just looked at a map and it looks like Gatlinburg is only 1 hour drive from Knoxville. Maybe students there would help fill it on weekends? There are probably a lot of people driving I-40 who would stop and see the Smokies.

If it's difficult to fill the beds with independent backpackers all the time, maybe you could team up with tour operators like Suntrek or TrekAmerica to accommodate some of their groups.

Kansas City, Des Moines, Omaha, Memphis, Cinncinatti

Good ideas. I added them to the where to open a hostel wiki page.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Hostels

Plakian's hostel is a good example of "hostel as a destination". The hostel is in a place that I had never heard of, but a couple of backpackers mentioned it to me when I was in the more-crowded north coast of Crete.

There are a lot of examples of hostels off the main backpacker route that become destinations in their own right. About 15 years ago there was one hostel in Cape Tribulation (a couple of hours north of Cairns, Australia), which became a destination hostel, then other hostels followed and now there are four hostels there. The same could probably be said for Interlaken (although it was always a popular tourist destination it originally wasn't so popular with backpackers).

Another example is the Catlins in New Zealand, which is a rural region with one shop, no banks and nothing to see but there are around 10 hostels there (although the hostels are very small ones).

Originally Posted by Hostels

I just looked at a map and it looks like Gatlinburg is only 1 hour drive from Knoxville. Maybe students there would help fill it on weekends? There are probably a lot of people driving I-40 who would stop and see the Smokies.

I think a small hostel in an area unknown to international travellers needs at least 10 hostels nearby to promote through (but not too close to be competitors). You give the management and staff of those hostels a free weekend so they are familiar with your place and then place posters and flyers around those hostels. If you're lucky and you have an outstanding hostel, then maybe 10% of the guests of those hostels may end up staying at your place.

I think independent hostels will give you more business than HI hostels, many of which tend to promote only places within their own network.

Being close to I-40 will help but it is the hostels in Asheville, Knoxville, Louisville and possibly Washington DC that will be a big source of business until word-of-mouth kicks in.

Originally Posted by Hostels

Good ideas. I added them to the where to open a hostel wiki page.

From reading these forums, it looks like Memphis will be getting another hostel. That's excellent news.

I'll soon start working on a proposal to publish a guidebook to Canada and the USA, but since the only accommodation we include are hostels there will be problems when we write about big cities like Des Moines, Kansas City and Oklahoma City but don't list any accommodation options. Other places like Richmond, VA don't have a hostel but there are places nearby.

Most of the US cities that still don't have hostels are second-tier cities in the minds of most international travellers. But cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh or Richmond, VA do have something that will appeal to many travellers and although places like Des Moines and Kansas City don't have any major sights, but they are conveniently placed, big enough and well-known enough to warrant an overnight stop if you're travelling across the country.

I think any city with at least half a million people could support a hostel, but especially those on the main east-west Interstate highways (I-10, I-40, I-70, I-80 and I-90). Once those destinations have hostels, then it is up to the hostels just outside major national parks - at this point a hostel in Gatlinburg makes perfect sense - and culturally unique areas like Lancaster County, PA.

Some parts of the United States have developed quite good independent hostel networks. It is possible to travel around the West Coast, Alaska and Colorado and find a hostel to stay in most towns and cities. I would probably give it five years before the rest of the country becomes more developed.