| The delegation of 11 hostel managers and staffs of Beijing Youth Hostel Association, headed by Mr. Yang Jidong, the vice chairman and Mr. Zhangwei, the secretary general had been to Hungary, Belgium, Holland and France on 15 th to 30th January in 2008 for a 15 days visiting. This visiting is a good opportunity to absorb new hostelling idea and management experience, learn facilities setting up, hostels' location arrangement, service management and refresh quality standard by details. Hungary----- Tour Arrangement
The first stop of the visiting of Beijing Youth Hostel Association is Budapest , Hungary . The delegation accepted warm welcome by Laszlo Meszter, the former IYHF board member and the honorary president of Hungary YHA and Mr. Gyula Sardi, the vice president of Hungary YHA. The same day they had visited three local youth hostels in Budapest .
Marc Polo Youth Hostel located in a classic beautiful street in Budapest with well facilities and exquisite decoration. Ms. Judi, the hostel manager introduced this hostel established in 2002 which has 43 rooms totally. Normally, a dorm bed costs Euro 40 per night, and it could pay Euro 20 per night a bed if you accommodate longer time in the hostel. She told us there are 26 staffs in Marc Polo who at least could speak one foreign language frequently. The salary of a staff is about Euro 400 per month with well social security. The main customers are European travelers in this hostel. Recent years, they received more and more travelers from China , Japan , and Southern Korea , and they believed Chinese travelers will be increased in the future.
A special youth hostel in Budapest gave us a deep expression---- Fortuna Boat Hotel, which is a nice ship anchored on the Pest side of the capital, between Margaret and Arpad bridges opposite the Margaret Island with a wonderful view of Fishman Bastion and Buda Castle .
Mr. Laszlo Meszter introduced all attractive sightseeing of Budapest to the delegation, such as the church, Capitol, Hero Square and others,
The next day in Budapest , the delegation of Beijing YHA attended the conference with Hungary YHA to understand each other and strike up a deep friendship, due to discussing the future collaboration, communicating information with CEE Youth Hostel Associations. Mr. Zhangwei introduced development of China Hostelling, hostels location arrangement and the tours in China . Mr. Laszlo Meszter said they prepared some special tours for Chinese travelers which could meet any demand of them. Lake Balaton , Wikipedia , Royal palace in Godollo and many many places are all worth-seeing. Hungary YHA established in 1989 with 11 youth hostels in the beginning, up to now there are hundreds of youth hostels in Hungary .
Holland -----High Quality System
Holland Stayokay head office is located in a nice quiet street of Amsterdam which is a 19 th century style building with four floors. The delegation visited the biggest youth hostel in Amsterdam . The manager told us a dorm bed is about Euro 25-26 per night. Ms.Marijke Schreiner, the CEO of Stayokay told us there are 30 regular-chain youth hostels in Holland , most of them were located in the city centre, near to the forest, or by the sea. In this case, customers have many choices, different hostel has different style. High quality system has been operated by all stayokay youth hostels, what they do anything is for customers' comfortable staying here. Youth hostels are much different than hotels, the youth could find a platform to make friends and enjoy the free time in hostels' activities. Ms.Marijke Schreiner introduced the high quality system has been operated in many countries, like Germany, France, Switzerland, Russia and so on, So they're eager to invite china join in.
France ---hostel service
Beijing YHA delegation arrived in Nice , France in 23 rd , Jan. This is a nice city, quiet and unforgettable. There are many hostels and hotels here, we visited the hostel called “Saint Villa”, which is in the top 10 list staying by The Guardian. Saint Villa was a church in the past and was open in the public as a hostel after reconstruction in 2000. Now the hostel could accommodate 300 customers, bed rental could be reach 95% in midseason, A bed is about Euro18-22 per night include breakfast, airport transfer, internet and so on. Saint Villa offer many interesting tours and owns its webpage to accept bookings. Nearly 10% of customers come from their own webpage.
China Tourism News reported |
