The latest celebrity to sing the praises of Hostelworld took the spotlight in hostel news this week. Mariah Carey stars in a promotional video for the hostel online booking agent. She follows Chris Eubank, 50 Cent and Charlie Sheen, who have also taken centre stage in campaigns for Hostelworld.
Marek Mossakowski, the global head of brand at Hostelworld, told PR Week, “Many people still don’t realise just how much hostels have changed over the past decade. Now they’ve got all the facilities you’d expect from expensive accommodation, but with an affordable price and with a ready-made community of like-minded travellers to share experiences with. Even people with the highest standards can become hostel believers – and divas don’t come any bigger than Mariah Carey!
Another big boost for Hostelworld this week came out of its 2017 revenue report. The Irish company reported an 8% increase in 2017 to €86.7m. Also last year, group bookings increased by 6% (to 7.5m bookings) with core Hostelworld brand bookings up 13%.
Hostelworld Chief Executive Officer, Feargal Mooney, said the company has found a ‘noticeable increase in conversion and booking levels’ during the pilot launch of the new free cancellation booking option.
He said Hostelworld plans to introduce the model more widely.
“This new product together with increased technology investment will substantially improve our offering to customers and our competitive position and underpin the Board’s confidence that we will see bookings growth in 2018 and beyond.”
Hostelworld reported performance in Asia remained strong in 2017 and inbound bookings grew 12%.
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