YHAgroup.org.uk

Two years have passed since the publication of the last YHA handbook, so you might be expecting to see a new one hitting your doormat amidst all the other Christmas post. Well, you’re going to be disappointed as YHA have decided not to issue a new guide, at least not yet, as they deem it too expensive.

Hostellers will have to make do with the website (due for an overhaul in the near future) or with old copies of the book. That’ll be no change for many seasoned members, who use old handbooks for bits of information dropped in more recent editions – such as maps to help you find each hostel.

It has not yet been decided whether to permanently abandon paper in favour of electronic publication. It would be a brave decision. The internet is a marvellous thing, but it’s a lot less convenient to shove into a rucksack, pannier or glove compartment.

Does a paper hostel guide have to be a glossy, full-colour, perfect bound behemoth? Scotland get by with a 36-page booklet (pictured left), some countries just issue a road map with the hostels marked on it and with their addresses on the back. Admittedly, YHA has a big network to publicise, but could this be a way forward?

Just this week, an email was sent to this website asking:

Is there a book which lists all the youth hostels in the UK, so that I know where to go when I get to town?

Setting aside the issue of the UK being covered by three HI associations, is that really a ridiculous thing to ask for?

There’s good news on the YHA web site for those is search of a Christmas bargain – the Association’s “Crunch Buster Sale” is offering beds in 60 hostels around the country for just £10 or £15 a night throughout the month of December.

It’s a shame that, thanks to flexible pricing, the sale price is sometimes less than the “from” price. For example, if your thrilled at the prospect of staying at Minehead for only £10 a night, the shine may be taken off when you discover that the normal price promoted on the hostel’s web page is £9.95.

That’s the problem with flexible pricing – if the only price you show with any prominence is the lowest price ever charged, anything above that mark looks like a rip-off, especially if it’s a “sale” price. Oh well, at least you can now find out the correct price for any given night if you can access the web site and know where to look. If you don’t know where to look – try clicking the “Check Availability” box on a hostel’s page. As well as availability, it also has the prices!

Even more buried on the site is even better news about pricing:

The Government’s decision to cut VAT from December 1st 2008 gives a much needed boost to YHA and will now enable us to freeze our price bands at 2008 levels throughout 2009.

So, for once, there won’t be anybody grumbling about excessive rises in overnight prices next year – because prices aren’t going to change at all!

STOP PRESS: A post in the uk.rec.youth-hostel points out an interesting case. Thurlby YH was already being promoted with a £9.95 per person per night midweek winter offer. Now, as a result of this “sale”, the midweek price has gone up by 5p!

It’s official – affiliated groups are still part of YHA’s life. Well, actually they’re part of YHA Life, the four-page news sheet currently hitting members’ doormats around the country.

With such limited space available it’s great to see Groups getting a mention. Here’s what they have to say:

YHA Groups – A great way to hostel

The YHA network is alive with different groups of people who share a love of YHA and travel. These groups are spread over England and Wales and provide opportunities for members of all ages and from many walks of life.

If you like travelling, enjoy the countryside, want to meet new people and love Youth Hostels then YHA Affiliate Groups are for you!

These are groups of like-minded people, who may be from the same locality or simply share the same hobby, who meet regularly to enjoy Youth Hostelling trips and other social activities. Have fun sharing everything from barbecues to slide shows, plus badminton, pub trips and much more!

If you would like more information on YHA and Affiliate Groups, call the Membership Department on 01629 592771 or email membership@yha.org.uk

Let’s hope this advert yields a few new members for groups around the country.

Incidentally, are barbecues, slide shows, badminton and pub trips still a representative sample of groups’ non-hostelling activities? It doesn’t sound too far off target for my own group (though we tend more to the pub than the badminton court), but what about yours? What do you get up to when you’re not at a hostel?

It’s not exactly mass media, but the Borehamwood & Elstree Times has just published an article extolling the many virtues of YHA hostels. They make a pretty good job of pointing out the benefits of hostelling – the variety of buildings, the facilities available at today’s hostels, the fact that they welcome people of all ages.

I don’t know whether this article came from Matlock, or if some Borehamwood journalist just likes youth hostelling, but the good press is to be welcomed. Groups might find this article useful in their own publicity.

It’s just a shame they didn’t mention nearby YHA Local Groups in Barnet and St Albans…

The latest edition of Discover magazine (pictured left) is winging it’s way towards members’ doormats. Launched as a replacement for Triangle earlier this year, Discover is more like a glossy brochure for YHA properties and services than a conventional magazine. In this issue, the areas of YHA life to get this jazzy treatment include Affiliated Groups!

Continue reading…

Back in April I reported that the discount available to students, OAPs and other people of limited means had been quietly abolished by YHA management.

Partly as a result of my prompting, the matter was raised at a meeting of the YHA Board of Trustees. Apparently, Marketing supremo Alan Hopley said that the discount was “too small to be worth bothering about”. It was pointed out to him that people on low incomes might depend on such small sums!

At any rate, the end result is that the discount is to be reinstated. If anybody reading this site who is entitled to such a discount is unable to get it, please get in touch (or comment below) and I’ll make sure the BoT hears about it.

Well, they might have missed the reopening of Skiddaw House, but that’s because the YHA Marketing team have been busy. An article on Utalkmarketing.com describes their recent efforts to reach new markets and break away from the “large dormitories, backpackers and smelly socks” image.

It’s an interesting read, and one that’s perhaps more straightforward about the changing nature of the Association and it policies than the YHA’s own communications to members. Marketing manager Alan Hopley (who some may remember from the Coalport meeting last year) has this to say:

YHA’s membership has traditionally belonged to walkers, cyclists and fans of the outdoors.

They’re largely from the ABC demographic, but it’s an aging demographic dominated by 50 and 60-year-olds.

Hopley said, “Let’s just say the average age of our members is higher than we would like. We want to keep our loyal members but also attract new blood and younger ones too.

Marketing efforts include full-page adverts in the press, posters at “train stations in key cities”, and encouraging journalists to stay at hostels and write about it.

I have reservations about some of the things YHA are doing, and still think their efforts on the internet are below-par, but wish them every success in spreading the word about the wonderful world of youth hostelling. Perhaps groups could help out somehow?…

YHA’s mighty marketing machine has just released the news that Skiddaw House has reopened. Well, shucks guys, it’s already been open for two months, and I reported it here back in February. Oh well, better late than never I suppose…

According to a YHA press release:

YHA is gunning to capture a share of the capital’s fast-expanding ‘flashpacker’ market when YHA London Earl’s Court is officially re-launched today.

The busy cosmopolitan Youth Hostel was severely damaged by fire in April last year but has now been completely repaired and upgraded.

What’s a flashpacker, you ask? I didn’t know either, but according to Flashpacker Diaries…

They are individuals who are perhaps a little older than the post-Uni, pre-life 21 year old backpacker, who have a larger budget but less time. Flashpacking is for those people who prefer a little quality and have the means to pay for it.

The Evening Standard describe them more succinctly as “thirty-something backpackers who do the budget hotel thing but jet around on internal flights or helicopters because they can’t be bothered with 20 hour bus trips”. In short, they’re the opposite, in every respect, to “young people of limited means”.

Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. They’ll still be offering regular “backpacker” accommodation as well, and there’s plenty of (relatively) dirt cheap accommodation to be found in the capital for the not-too-fussy. It could be good news for groups too, many of whose members are older and richer than your average backpacker. Let’s just hope YHA don’t go all out after this new market segment only to be squeezed out by cheap hotel chains entering the sector.