Hostelworld benefits from ‘pent up’ traveller demand across Europe

Travellers have returned to the capital, the UK and Europe as Hostelworld the booking partner for St. Christopher’s short stay sites in Greenwich, Camden and Hammersmith and locations across the world said it is experiencing  a return to business fuelled by pent up customer demand.

In a trading update until the end of June, the business said that bookings had reached 80% of June 2019 levels with revenue at 104% of that driven by higher than average booking rates.

“Overall, we are seeing the recovery continue across all destinations and demand segments”, the group said.

Hostelworld singled out Europe as being its most successful booking destination as backpackers find their freedom again, after the easing of pandemic restrictions, with Southern Europe including Greece and Italy exceeding expectations.

Gary Morrison, CEO of Hostelworld, said the company’s model had captured “pent-up customer demand as the travel market returns”.

“Despite macro-economic uncertainties and recent disruption to airline schedules, I am very confident that we are well positioned to continue to capitalise on the travel recovery as we enter our key seasonal summer trading period,” he added.

Hostelworld has 36,000 properties in 178 countries worldwide and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The group’s share price was up 2% to 9390 pence in early trading.