Hostelworld Press Room

• Hostelworld.com teams up with gapyear.com to target £5bn 'Gap Year' Travel market

  August 15, 2007

  Hostelworld.com, the leading provider of online reservations to the independent, budget and youth travel market today announced that it has joined forces with gapyear.com, the dominant portal in the gap year space, by providing them with their hostel booking engine. The partnership will give Hostelworld.com access to a highly targeted market that is estimated to be worth £5 billion a year.

  Hostelworld.com's Chief Marketing Officer Niamh Ni Mhir commented "Gap years are no longer relegated to school leavers, the sector has expanded significantly to encompass post university students, those on career breaks and those travelling independently from 55 to 65 around retirement. We are constantly looking for new way of targeting customers. With gapyear.com being the dominant force in this sector it was the obvious choice for a partnership as it gives us access to a receptive market and allows us to effectively reach customers while they are in the process of planning and updating their travels."

  She continued "Gap Year travellers, on average, travel for longer on strict budgets and therefore need access to accommodation that won't break the bank. We offer travellers the widest range of budget accommodation choices with 12,000 properties in 165 countries ranging from hostels to guesthouses, budget hotels and even campsites. All our bookings are made securely, in real time and are guaranteed."

  gapyear.com founder Tom Griffiths said that the hostel booking engine now gives them complete booking functionality on the site. He added: "When we were looking for an accommodation partner we needed to provide our users with the best possible service, that's why we chose Hostelworld.com, they have the range and choice suited to our users and are best in class in their sector. Their experience with the youth travel market is unparalleled."

  Griffiths continued: "The tag of 'low spending budget traveller' is misleading. The average gapper travels for longer and as a result the market has an average spend in excess of £5,000 per person. In the UK, whilst the gap year travel market comprises only around 1% of all UK outbound trips, it punches well above its weight with roughly 10% of outbound travel expenditure. By 2010 it is estimated that around 2 million gap year trips will be made worldwide, with a total expenditure reaching around £11bn*. Spend on accommodation forms a significant part of this market. It is essential, therefore, that we provide a cutting edge offering that integrates smoothly with our unique one-stop-shop model to service our growing global customer need" *Mintel Gap Year Report

  About Hostelworld.com
  Hostelworld.com is a leading provider of online reservations to the budget, independent and youth travel market. It offers confirmed online reservations for over 12,000 hostels and budget hotels in 165 countries worldwide. The site also offers budget travellers free podcasts, customised city guides, a travel social network and more. Hostelworld.com is headquartered in Dublin and is fully owned and operated by Web Reservations International Ltd (WRI).

  About gapyear.com

  Established in 1998, gapyear.com provides young travellers with the opportunity to belong to an online community, share their experiences, seek good advice and purchase their travel items from a one-stop-shop. Gapyear.com continues to be the world's largest gap year information source and community with over 1 million users annually.
  Founders Tom Griffiths and Peter Pedrick are regarded as the leading authorities on 'gap years' in the UK and around the world, consulting governments and acting as media spokespeople on gap year, youth and travel related issues. What was once a vision of the two pioneers has now become a reality - an industry valued globally at over £5bn*. (*2005 Mintel Gap Year Report)

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