Hostelling International partners with WYSE Travel Confederation on global study of youth travel market

Media release

For immediate release

Amsterdam, 10 July 2017
HOSTELLING INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS WITH WYSE TRAVEL CONFEDERATION ON GLOBAL STUDY OF YOUTH TRAVEL MARKET
The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is pleased to announce Hostelling International (HI) as a new partner of its global study of youth and student travel, New Horizons. Hostelling International is offering a free three nights stay for two people at one of their 4000 hostels worldwide to a lucky respondent of the New Horizons survey.

“This partnership is one of the ways Hostelling International clearly demonstrates their commitment to understanding the needs and wants of today’s young travellers,” said David Chapman, Director General of WYSE Travel Confederation. “WYSE is pleased that Hostelling International will support this very important study.”

The winner of this prize drawing will certainly have their pick from some of the most inspiring and unusual places in the world. A jumbo jet in Stockholm, California lighthouse, and boat in Budapest are just a few of the unique accommodation experiences HI has available across 81 countries on 5 continents. Hostelling International first began in 1932 to coordinate Youth Hostel Associations worldwide. Today, HI is one of the world’s largest international membership organisations with more than 3.7 million members.

“We don’t do it for profit, but to offer our guests the chance to experience meaningful interactions with local communities, in ways that enrich young people and encourage mutual understanding. We share our passion for travelling and responsible tourism – meeting new people and learning about ourselves in the process,” said Rebecca O’Connor, Head of Partnerships for Hostelling International.

What is New Horizons? 
New Horizons is the only recurring global survey of the youth travel segment. The aim of the study is to provide a global overview of the youth and student travel market, which WYSE Travel Confederation and UNWTO have estimated to account for more than 280 million international arrivals in 2016.

Last conducted by WYSE Travel Confederation in 2012 and generating more than 34,000 responses from 137 countries, New Horizons discovered that on average the youth and student traveller spent just under EUR 3,000 for his/her last main international trip – a growth of 40% since the 2007 survey.

Suppliers of travel products tailored to the youth and student traveller are invited to participate in the fourth New Horizons study. More information is available at newhorizons.wysetc.org.

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Notes to the editor

For media enquiries please contact:

WYSE Travel Confederation
Keizersgracht 174-176 | 1016 DW Amsterdam | The Netherlands
communications@wysetc.org | +31 (0)20 421 2800 | www.wysetc.org

About WYSE Travel Confederation:

• The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry.
• Founded in 2006 and created from the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) – both formed after World War II to inspire young people through international travel and to help remove cultural barriers – the confederation brings together 60 years of youth travel expertise.
• Providing international travel experiences to over 30 million youth and students each year, WYSE Travel Confederation’s global community of over 600 members spans more than 120 countries from a diverse range of sectors.
• From adventure tour operators to au pair agencies, cultural exchange programmes to language schools, hop-on-hop-off buses to student insurance and youth hostels to volunteer programmes, WYSE Travel Confederation is the world’s most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.
• The Confederation is committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of its activities as it seeks to accelerate the development of youth travel.
• For more information, visit www.wysetc.org or follow the organisation on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.