Funnily enough we had a German couple here about 5 years ago who were on their honeymoon. They had chosen to do a hostelling trip staying at YHAs for their honeymoon. This meant they were by and large sleeping in seperate dorms. Sounded interesting.
There are so many stories in the media these days about "boutique hostels" and "flashpackers" etc that I think these things tie in with the debate about what a hostel is by definition. The one thing these stories have in common is usually that they are dispelling the "myth" that hostels are about shared dorms and partying backpackers (or in the UK smelly outdoor types). What this means is that people are now coming who's expectation of hostel is not that it will be shared dorms - and in fact are sometimes shocked by the suggestion they would share with a stranger.
Whilst they might not be the traditional hostel market, a lot of the YHAs around the world are trying to target these people through press releases about their latest new hostel. This is raising the bar about what people expect - and for a lot of them it isn't shared dorms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim
Still the amount of business a hostel gets depends on international budget travellers visiting that country
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Whilst this may be true of some hostels in some cities around the world, it's by no means true for all hostels. You can build up a market in a lot of places that is not dependent on international budget travellers. They may be a portion of your market, but if you diversify as much as possible you can somewhat insulate yourself from some of the negative effects of being totally dependent on this market.