Flashpackers and Flashpacking

[Hostels]

Below is an excerpt from a news article about "flashpackers" and "flashpacking".

The end of the article has a "10 key signs of a flashpacker" list, including "You don't spend all day emailing friends to tell how you hitch-hiked to Paris and saved $12. You're shopping on the Champs Elysees" and "You have a keen eye for media hype, recognise this is all a joke and would cut off your own arm and eat it rather than actually call yourself a flashpacker".

Any thoughts of flashpackers/flashpacking?

Here is the article excerpt:
(I added the bold.)

Flashpacker is a fairly new term. . .used to describe independent travellers who journey in style. It applies to adventurous men and women, usually in their 30s, who have established careers and money to burn. . .
[...]
There is no set amount that flashpackers will budget on accommodation a night. "In Thailand, we paid £5 [$11.80] per night for beautiful seafront cabins, then stopped off in Singapore and stayed at the Fullerton Hotel, one of the most expensive. But the key is choice."

In three months, the couple spent £20,000.
[...]
In Australia, the word has been seized by accommodation chain Nomads World Hotels, which rebranded its backpackers as flashpackers about six months ago.

"We have six properties in Australia and New Zealand and Fiji and our properties were getting better and better," Penny Brand, the company's sales and marketing manager, says. "And backpackers . . . the name just didn't cut it. We have en suite doubles as well as the dorm rooms. Some of our properties have cinema lounges, resort-type pools, air-conditioning."

Coming up with the concept was simple (although Nomads' definition differs from that at Flashpackerdiaries.com). "To us, it was like, it's a flash backpackers, so it's flashpackers!" Brand says. "We have one property that doesn't fit that market - it's called our partypackers."

A double room at a flashpackers costs $70-$95 a night. "We have king, en suite rooms with televisions that go for $95 a night in Melbourne," Brand says. "That price is on par with a lower-end hotel, but you've got a bar with a cafe, wireless internet through the whole reception-bar area, a kitchen, a cinema lounge - facilities a traditional hotel doesn't have."

Nomads aims to offer the social interaction of a backpackers, but with the comforts of a hotel, Brand says.
[...]
Rob Hart, general manager of Flight Centre's Student Flights in Brisbane, has noticed the change in the market. "We're a student flights brand, so we focus on backpackers and students, but the majority of our customers are actually professionals," he says. "There's a greater trend to take career breaks - a lot of corporations are giving people time to actually do that.

"Probably 75 per cent of of the backpackers who come to Australia come from Europe, and a lot of those backpackers are professionals," he says.

"So they can afford to flashpack rather than do it on the ultimate cheap, as, say, an 18-year-old or a gap-year student would do."
[...]
Brand says another trend is that traditional backpackers are getting older.

"Instead of it being an 18 to 25 market, it's a 25 to 40 sort of thing - [including those] taking a gap year off life, or those just married who decide to take a year off before having the kids."

Hart has noticed a similar shift: "We definitely see lots of older people, particularly 30 to 40, who are still doing flashpacking around the world. One trend is that they've been backpackers before, but they are over the sharing of dorms, but they still go to backpackers."

[Tim]

There are a lot of different definitions of what a flashpackers hostel is but I generally think of it as a brand new purpose-built place that is meticulously clean and maintained to the same standard as a brand new 3½ star to 5 star hotel, but with bunks.

However some hostels call themselves flashpackers because they have en suite facilities or private rooms. Really that doesn't make it a flashpackers if it is an old run down building.

Nomads market their Legend Has It… Westend hostel in Sydney as a flashpackers. It is an old building that is nothing like what I expect a flashpackers to be and by calling it a flashpackers they are bring down the reputation of their hostels that actually should be called a flashpackers, such as their excellent Nomads Industry in Melbourne and the Serpent Hostel & Bar in Cairns.

Some flashpackers hostels that I have recently visted in Australia are:
Beaches of Broome (Broome, WA)
Gilligan's (Cairns, QLD)
Sydney Central YHA (Sydney, NSW)
Wake Up! (Sydney, NSW)
Nomads Industry (Melbourne, VIC)
Melbourne Metro YHA (Melbourne, VIC)
Urban Central (Melbourne, VIC)
Grampians YHA Eco-Hostel (Halls Gap, VIC)

Some of these are really outstanding. For instance Beaches of Broome (not connected with the Beaches hostels on the East Coast) is just like a fancy resort, but with bunks. From the street it actually looks nicer than the four-star resort a couple of doors down the road. However it doesn't have the charm of more established places like the Kimberley Klub, also in Broome, which would have been classed as a flashpackers 12 years ago when it first opened but now has a more established feel as it has lost some of its gloss but gained a lot more atmosphere over the years.

Flashpackers' hostels aren't for everyone and most travellers prefer something a bit smaller with more atmosphere but there is definitely a place in the market for them, especially in gateway cities where travellers will spend the first couple of nights of their trip. In these cities something clean and well maintained with top quality facilities makes a nice soft landing before staying at older cheaper hostels.

[Hostels]

Have you seen many "flashpackers" outside of Australia and New Zealand?

I haven't seen hostels in the USA calling themselves "flashpackers" yet.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Hostels

Have you seen many "flashpackers" outside of Australia and New Zealand?

I haven't seen hostels in the USA calling themselves "flashpackers" yet.

I haven't travelled overseas much in the past year and in my last big European trip I didn't see anything that I would call a flashpackers.

The standard of hostels in Europe seems to be improving so I am sure that there are some hostels out there that would be classed as a flashpackers. I'm not so sure about North America. I think there needs to be more competition there before standards lift substaintially.

I am sure that there will be more "flashpackers" hostels opening around the world over the next few years. Every big city can do with one.

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by Tim

I'm not so sure about North America. I think there needs to be more competition there before standards lift substaintially.

I would like to see this happen

I think there needs to be more awareness in the USA of what hostels are about.

[gordo]

i was a manager at nomads industry in melbourne last year for about 6 months.

flashpacking is a funny term. nomads, for example, spent over a million on the ground floor of the melbourne hostel - its the reception, bar and geust kitchen. massive plasma screen TVs, the lighting in our reception desk cost over 50K, leather couches...

how many backpackers actually cared? id say none. dont get me wrong, people liked the place and were very impressed - but NOBODY liked the place because it was fancy. the private rooms were nice, the dorms reasonable (needed AC) and the bar fancy. its ALWAYS the people that make the experience.

now i know little things like decor make an impression and are therefore important - but flashpackers are really just modern backpackers that want to make a fancy impression. the good ones are good because you dont really notice theyre flash, thats not their 'thing'. theyre just great hostels with new, modern facilities.

as far as the nomads/legend has it situation goes, what a farce. nomads was originally just a travel agency, then it branched out into hostels. teh 2 groups (hostels and agencies) then officially split, but maintained the same branding. nomads hostels then decided to rebrand (originally was going to be 'seek adventure hostels', then as 'legend has it... backpackers' - both horrible horrible brands). its taken them over a year to start rebranding... and only westend has the new name. and it wasnt ever a nomads, they bought it and changed the name. thats it.

as much fun as i had working for nomads, too many people behind the wheel of that company have no friggin idea about backpacking.

one thing that really irks me about the term 'flashpacking' is what makes 'flashpackers (teh people)' ie. ipods, cell phone, laptop. now, if you saw a kid walking down the street listening to his/her ipod and texting on their phone, would they be considered flash? of course not. but stick a backpack on them and all of a sudden theyre the new market in the budget tourism industry. bollocks. theyre the same kids who would've gone with a calling card and walkman 15 years ago, not some new wave.

[Hostels]

massive plasma screen TVs

I've been to one hostel with big screen TVs. I think it interferes with guest interaction...

Originally Posted by gordo

...its ALWAYS the people that make the experience.

I also think the key is the people... If the guests have a few drinks and make some new friends and the staff is helpful -- the hostel will get high ratings even if the facilities are not the best.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Hostels

I also think the key is the people... If the guests have a few drinks and make some new friends and the staff is helpful -- the hostel will get high ratings even if the facilities are not the best.

It is the people; but a hostel also needs to be clean and secure.

Most flashpackers do feel a bit sterile, but a few do manage to create a good atmosphere too. Nomads Industry is one of those, so it Swansea Backpackers in Tasmania. In both cases it is because of the people.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Hostels

I've been to one hostel with big screen TVs. I think it interferes with guest interaction...

I agree. When we assess a hostel's star rating for BUG, having a TV dominate a common area deducts points from the overall score. However having a TV room or cinema in another room away from the main common area works well.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by gordo

flashpacking is a funny term. nomads, for example, spent over a million on the ground floor of the melbourne hostel - its the reception, bar and geust kitchen. massive plasma screen TVs, the lighting in our reception desk cost over 50K, leather couches...

how many backpackers actually cared? id say none. dont get me wrong, people liked the place and were very impressed - but NOBODY liked the place because it was fancy.

I think making travellers say "wow" when they walk in a hostel definitely helps with word of mouth, but the wow factor has to extend beyond the reception. It is no use spending a million bucks on the reception and then having smelly rooms. I would say that it is important to impress your guests because then they will say nice things about your hostel, but Nomads Industry could have acheived the same effect for a fraction of what they paid.

Originally Posted by gordo

now i know little things like decor make an impression and are therefore important - but flashpackers are really just modern backpackers that want to make a fancy impression. the good ones are good because you dont really notice theyre flash, thats not their 'thing'. theyre just great hostels with new, modern facilities.

I am generally more impressed with the flashpacker that isn't over the top with its marketing. Sometimes when you hear a lot about a place you start to expect the world, but the hostels that don't make a big deal of it end up impressing more people and end up getting much more positive word of mouth.

Originally Posted by gordo

as far as the nomads/legend has it situation goes, what a farce. nomads was originally just a travel agency, then it branched out into hostels. teh 2 groups (hostels and agencies) then officially split, but maintained the same branding. nomads hostels then decided to rebrand (originally was going to be 'seek adventure hostels', then as 'legend has it... backpackers' - both horrible horrible brands). its taken them over a year to start rebranding... and only westend has the new name. and it wasnt ever a nomads, they bought it and changed the name. thats it.

as much fun as i had working for nomads, too many people behind the wheel of that company have no friggin idea about backpacking.

I totally agree. When I was told that Footprints had changed its name to Legend Has It, I thought it was a joke. Surely they could come up with something better.

Base, Urban Central, Wake Up! and loads of other hostels have really good strong brands. Nomads surely could do better. At least they should have a separate brand for the real flashpacker hostels so the older hostels (Legend Has It, Maze and Nomads on Murray) don't take away from the brand equity that their flashpackers hostels have.

Originally Posted by gordo

one thing that really irks me about the term 'flashpacking' is what makes 'flashpackers (teh people)' ie. ipods, cell phone, laptop. now, if you saw a kid walking down the street listening to his/her ipod and texting on their phone, would they be considered flash? of course not. but stick a backpack on them and all of a sudden theyre the new market in the budget tourism industry. bollocks. theyre the same kids who would've gone with a calling card and walkman 15 years ago, not some new wave.

I think the term flashpackers is a good way to describe a certain type of high quality hostel, but I don't like it as a way of describing the people who stay there. Go into a cheap grotty place and you'll find travellers with notebook computers, iPods and video cameras. And when was the last time you saw a backpacker without a mobile phone?