5 minutes with Wombat’s City Hostels | STAY WYSE 2024

Feb 1, 2024

Ahead of STAY WYSE 2024, we caught up briefly with Raphaela Böck, Head of Sales at Wombat’s City Hostels. As a platinum sponsor and host of the welcome drinks and networking party (not to be missed), we were curious to hear what team Wombat’s is most looking forward to at the conference.

Raphaela, hi! We’re looking forward to bringing STAY WYSE delegates to not one, but two Wombat’s locations in Munich next week. As a previous STAY WYSE attendee, what are you most excited for at this year’s edition?

Meeting old and new hostel colleagues and youth travel partners from all around the world. It is one of the best opportunities to leave the desk and video calls behind and connect in person. It is always exciting to see that no matter how long we have worked in the industry, we still embrace the spirit of young travellers. I’m looking forward to dancing at our womBar all night long!

So are we! So, do you see any emerging trends or challenges that you’re interested in hearing more about at STAY WYSE?

The past few years have been a rollercoaster ride, with many ups and downs. I’m interested in discussing the different forecasts for 2024 and 2025. We see that the lead booking period is getting shorter and the demand for off-season travel is not as strong compared to last year.

You’ll leave STAY WYSE up to date and armed with knowledge to put into practice. And are there any new products, services or initiatives Wombat’s is launching that you’re excited to showcase during the event?

We are very happy to announce that we adopted a new hostel in our group – the Sleepy Lion Hostel Leipzig – at the beginning of this year. It will be operated under its existing name for now and we are looking forward to exploring all opportunities in the upcoming year.

Congratulations! We look forward to hearing more about this new hostel – and seeing you and the team in Munich!

Member snapshot

Over the years we’ve created more than just a hostel chain. We’ve built affordable accommodation that facilitates friendly gatherings between backpackers and locals. We’ve helped cultivate a travel community to come together and share stories of exploration rather than just sharing a living space for a few nights.

More than 300,000 travellers pass through Wombat’s City Hostels in Budapest, London, Munich and Vienna every year.

Membership plan: Associate
Country: Austria

Wombats |STAY WYSE Conference 2024 | staywyse.org

Ask us Anything Podcast

WYSE Travel Confederation‘s Head of Research & Education Wendy Morrill spoke to father and daughter team Sascha Dimitriewicz and Raphaela Böck of Wombat’s City Hostels on the Ask Us Anything podcast.

Ask us Anything | WYSE Podcasts