Hostel Videos

[Tim]

We are in the process of adding hostel videos to the BUG website. BUG currently has three people on the road in Australia and New Zealand updating our information and also filming hostels.

We don't charge for the videos. Basically we want the information on BUG to be useful to travellers and a video gives a much better idea of what a place is like compared to photos and it is a great addition to the reviews that travellers or our own reviewers write.

So far we have made videos of around 80 hostels with an extra couple of hundred being filmed in the next month or so. Right now we are filming hostels in Australia and New Zealand (since we are also reviewing these for our guidebooks) but I hope to add videos for Europe and North America later in the year.

We are editing the videos right now and should put them online in the next month.

We will most probably use Vimeo rather than YouTube since it means that we won't have the YouTube watermark on the videos but it still lets hostels embed the video on their own site as well.

[uktrail]

Everything about those videos would put me off the hostels. People seem to be mad on jumpy fast-moving clips that give you 1 second to see something then it's on to the next. I know it's the modern trend and you're supposed to like it, and I know that everyone's supposed to like the types of music shown, but I hate them. Alright, I'm an older guy and I accept my tastes in music are not the same as 99% of the world (or so it seems), but I find they are just insulting to the senses. Since most of them are just sequences of stills anyway, why not just show us the photographs that we can page through in our own time?

[Tim]

Well I guess the style of videos can vary a lot between different hostels and also promotional videos will be more upbeat than a video that supplements an independent review.

Basically the videos on BUG are not music videos and we're not trying to compete with MTV. There will be some background music but I doubt we would have any techno, more like something low key in the background just to make it feel a bit polished.

Unlike the promotional videos, we won't have happy people jumping around. Our videos are just a supplement to the reviews and will basically consist of panoramic shots of the outside of the hostel, the common areas and a dorm.

I don't mind the upbeat music video style, but it just wouldn't fit in with the style of an independent review. Besides it would be too much work, which is a big consideration when I have hundreds of hostel videos to produce.

[uktrail]

Tim, your idea sounds much better. Genuine videos of the hostel, with low-key background music, would be just the thing. It sounds like a large project, but it's something different and I hope it does well.

[Hostels]

Has anyone tried uploading videos of their hostel to LonelyPlanet.tv?

[Tim]

We uploaded our first 40 or so videos a couple of weeks ago but we have already filmed several hundred hostels so we will upload more over the next couple of months.

So far we have videos of hostels in the following locations:

Broome, Western Australia
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...oome/index.htm

Derby, Western Australia
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...erby/index.htm

Kununurra, Western Australia
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...urra/index.htm

Wanganui, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...anui/index.htm

Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...heim/index.htm

Havelock, Marlborough, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...lock/index.htm

Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...unds/index.htm

Picton, Marlborough, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...cton/index.htm

New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...outh/index.htm

Martinborough, Wellington Region, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...ough/index.htm

Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand
http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...gton/index.htm

Here is an example of what our videos will look like: http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels...-of-broome.htm

I think the videos will do really well. They certainly give travellers a better idea of what the hostel is like than a bunch of photos.

There is more information about the hostel videos here: http://www.bug.co.uk/pr/080320-hostel-videos.pdf

[Hostels]

Looks great. I think it's the most useful kind of hostel video that I've seen on a booking site.

[Hostels]

Hostelbookers has been uploading a lot of videos:
http://hostelbookers.blip.tv/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Hostelbookers
http://www.metacafe.com/channels/Hostelbookers/
http://www.dailymotion.com/Hostelbookers
http://www.youtube.com/user/HostelBookers

Hostelworld's style:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hostelworld

[Hostels]

I wanted to add a detailed example to this forum thread on how hostel videos can be used to gain additional exposure on the Web.

This technique was mentioned in my 10 Hostel (and hotel) Marketing Tips post as well as introduced in my free hostel marketing ebook.

Google has something called "Universal Search" which means that if you make videos and publish them on the major video sharing sites, Google (and now other search engines) may embed your videos in the search results.

If you put the name of your hostel in the title of the video, your video may get inserted in the search results when people search for your specific hostel. Here is an example:



[It says hotel above, but the property has dorm beds also.]

If you have a strong brand name that you want backpackers to remember, this video is a great opportunity to make a sales pitch that will make the viewers remember your brand.

Tips on producing hostel videos:

• Put the hostel's name and city in the title of the video
• Put the hostel's name and city in the description
• Make the first two sentences of the video's description read well because it may end up as the text snippet in the search results. For example, on youTube, the meta description tag is taken from the text description of the video. As mentioned in my free ebook, the meta description tag generally becomes the text snippet in the search engine results.
• watermark the entire length of the video with the URL of your home page
• Put a link to your hostel's Web site in the video description
• You could even add your phone number to the video's description -- be sure to use Skype format so that users with the Skype toolbar will be able to immediately click the phone number and call the hostel. E.g., +1 (555) 555-5555

[santa klaus]

So!

Here is:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WombatsHostels

Not to be confused with:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWOMBATS


Just played a bit with it this afternoon. We have tons of other Videos, will upload them next week.