Ask Us Anything

In this episode of the WYSE Ask Us Anything podcast we hear from Catherine Gilvarry, Head of Supply at Hostelworld, an OTA specialised in serving the hostel market.
As a member of Hostelworld’s ESG Steering Committee, Catherine discusses Hostelworld’s new “Stairway to Sustainability” programme, a framework for hostels to assess and communicate their sustainability initiatives. You’ll also hear about some of the social travel trends that Hostelworld is focussed on as the global hostel market continues to stabilise post-COVID-19. I also ask about media attention for the group’s 2023 year-end results and CEO Gary Morrison’s interest in addressing “loneliness” through travel, and of course, hostels. Have a listen.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Professor Konstantina Zerva is our guest for this episode of Ask Us Anything, she is Professor of Marketing and Market Investigation at the Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona in Spain.

Professor Zerva’s research is related to niche tourism market segments, gender and mobility, social marketing and theories of social exchange. She is the coordinator of the special interest group on ‘dark tourism’ of ATLAS, the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research.

Dark tourism includes a wide range of sites and tourist activities associated with death and suffering, but also danger and survival. Such sites might include constructed memorials, abandoned places of historic events and simulated or actual environments. Dark tourism activities can be passive or active, self-reflective or communal. Increasingly, technology is used to simulate dark contexts and experiences.

As you will hear in this conversation, dark tourism is a useful analytical tool for understanding cultural exchange, tourist behaviour and the delicate balance among a variety of stakeholders, including locals, victims and survivors. We touch on some of the beneficial aspects of dark tourism, as well as the controversial aspects, including its commercialisation. Confronting the darkness of humanity is an age-old activity, however, the ways that humans - and tourists - do this are changing. Have a listen...

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Haydn Marriner, Chairperson of the Backpacker Youth Adventure Tourism Association (BYTA) of New Zealand discusses the country's losses in international youth arrivals in the latest episode of the WYSE Ask Us Anything podcast. You'll discover the economic value and ripple effect of the backpacker and working holiday markets for New Zealand and what BYATA is doing to recover their losses and keep the destination relevant to youth. Have a listen.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Guests for this Ask Us Anything conversation are Kevin Morgan and Randy LeGrant, co-founders of Academic Language Solutions. The company specialises in English language proficiency testing, and offers a range of tests under the brand iTEP. There are iTEP tests to assess conversational or business English, as well as career-specific tests for hospitality or child care. There are also academic tests geared for university and high school admissions and tests utilised by cultural exchange programmes.

Kevin and Randy first met in 1979. They iTEP in 2016, but their experience in youth, student and educational travel stretches back much further and across more than just English language learning. In this conversation you’ll learn how each got started in cultural exchange travel and how they went from careers in teaching and communications to technology. Kevin boils it down to two words: curiosity and necessity.

We also discuss the influence of Artificial Intelligence on not only their business and product technology, but young people, education and travel. You’ll also find out what’s in the iTEP pipeline for 2024 and beyond. Have a listen.
Recorded February 2024.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

What’s one of the most important aspects of developing a new hostel brand in the post-pandemic travel space? Staffing? Tech? TikTok? And what about the bed? Comfort? Cool? Cheap?
This Ask Us Anything conversation with Louise Garner, Commercial Director of Kabannas, a new hostel brand in the UK, offers some opinions and insights on the question. Louise discusses the development of tech specifically designed for hostels and around revenue management of the bed. We also touch on developing a social media strategy alongside the development of your guest experience. And of course, something that’s been a challenge for most in hospitality coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic - staffing. Strategic partners have been key to the launch of Kabannas, and as you’ll hear Louise say, 2024 will be a ‘big year’ for the brand, especially when it comes to expansion plans... have a listen.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.