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Summary of our market study
The French youth hostel market is estimated at 500 million euros.
The global youth hostel market is growing at an annual rate of 7% and is estimated to be worth 7.5 billion dollars.
The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the French youth hostel market. Sales fell by around 50% in 2020, from 460 million euros to an estimated 230 million euros.
New concepts and competitive pricing strategies are emerging, with private groups such as Meininger and France Hostels offering nights from 19 euros.
70% of customers are in higher education, traveling solo or with friends, looking for well-placed, low-cost accommodation options.
Average prices are particularly competitive in the hostel market. Entry-level dormitories range from 18 to 30 euros.
Over 89 million tourists arrive in Paris every year, making it one of the world's top tourist destinations.
While retaining their economical character, hostels are gradually integrating features of cohabitation spaces, responding to the needs of a market that appreciates not only a place to rest, but also a place to connect and create. They combine coworking and coliving spaces.
Players in the youth hostel market
- St Christopher's Inns has carved out an important place for itself in the hostel segment, offering a mix of traditional hostel accommodation with a modern twist.
- Generator Hostels brings a touch of sophistication to the hostel market.
- Jo&Joe: part of the Accor Hotels group.
- France Hostels: aims to become a leader in the French hostel sector
- Meininger: Based in Germany, Meininger has successfully established itself in several European cities
- numerous independent hostels such as SLO Living Hostel and Cool & Bed
- Youth hostel associations such as FUAJ and LFAJ (Fédération Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse) and LFAJ (Ligue Française des Auberges de Jeunesse)
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Presentation and definition
According to INSEE, a youth hostel is an establishment run by a non-profit association. It provides users with accommodation and limited food service and/or self-catering, as well as other services, programs and activities. They are primarily intended for young people for educational and recreational purposes.
Hostels are usually preceded by the word "youth", reinforcing the intrinsic connotation of being designed for young people, backpackers or travelers. Notable features are shared space and affordability. However, as lifestyles and travel habits have changed considerably over time, hostels have adapted to a constantly evolving demand.
This low-cost form of accommodation, which dates back over a century and originated in Germany, has undergone significant renewal in France in recent years under the impetus of private players, who now favor the term "hostels". Until then, this model had mainly developed on a non-profit, associative basis. Today, these hostels have become trendy places offering a real "experience". They offer bars, restaurants, modern furniture - sometimes designed by renowned designers - DJ concerts and other entertainment. What's more, they feature more spacious and comfortable dormitories, with fewer beds, and even single rooms.
worldwide, the youth hostel market is expected to grow at a CAGR (average annual growth rate) of 7.6% between 2023 and 2030.
In Europe, hostels are now flourishing as alternatives to short-term rentals (e.g. Airbnb) or typical hotels, with many features such as private rooms, social events, extra facilities (e.g. swimming pool, lounge cafe, etc.), extravagant amenities.
In France, the historical players in the market are non-profit associations offering low-cost accommodation throughout the country. However, a growing number of private players have entered the market, creating new concepts to appeal to young travelers eager to meet new people and travel.
1.2 A fast-growing global market
Size of the global youth hostel market
A youth hostel is a friendly, short-term, low-cost type of accommodation in which guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, as well as shared use of a lounge and, sometimes, a kitchen. Hostels offer advantages such as reduced expenses ...
1.3 Estimates and orders of magnitude for the French youth hostel market
Youth hostel market size
According to the latest data available at the time of writing, in ****, the "Youth" sector is made up of youth hostels, international holiday centers andsports centers, representing **,*** beds. These establishments welcomed ***,*** holidaymakers, generating over *** million euros in sales. [***]
The youth hostel sector saw a turning point in ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 French tourism in 2023
The different types of travelers can be grouped as follows:
Source: ****
The reasons for travel are
Leisure, relaxation and vacation Visiting family and friends Health (***) Pilgrimages, sporting events, school trips, etc.
**% of French people went on vacation in summer ****. France is still the preferred destination, even if it has been ...
2.2 Young people: travel and vacations in 2024
In February ****, Webedia conducted a survey on the travel habits of **-** year-olds, who are the primary customers of hostels and youth hostels.
According to KPMG, **% of hostel guests are individual travelers, **% are foreign tourists, and the majority are aged between ** and **.
Representing a third of the world's population and making ...
2.3 Seasonal demand
An analysis of the frequency of Google searches in France for the terms "hostel " and " auberge de jeunesse " shows that demand is highly cyclical: peaks between mid-July and mid-August , and troughs between mid-November and mid-December, reflecting seasonal demand in summer.
Search frequencies for the terms "hostel" and "auberge de jeunesse" France, ...
2.4 Demand trends: between solo travellers and new customers
More and more people are traveling alone. This change is visible on a global scale, as traditional single-place trips are being abandoned in favor of short-term stays in several locations.
Frequency of Google searches for the term "solo travel World, ****-****, Google index Source: ****
in recent years, Google search interest in ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Geographical distribution of youth hostels in France
growth in the number of youth hostels and hostels in France
According to INSEE, in ****. There were *** youth hostels in mainland France, mainly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (***).
The French territory is thus well covered, except for Paris, which has around half as many hostels as cities like Berlin or London. One possible ...
3.2 The different booking channels
Hotel reservations in Europe by channel in ****
Most overnight stays in Europe are booked directly with the hotel Europe, ****, % of total Source: ****
In total, online bookings and social networks account for **. *% of all hotel bookings in Europe in ****. The majority of offline bookings are made directly with the hotel or via ...
3.3 A fragmented market
Despite the emergence of hostel chains, their importance remains fairly limited. For example, according to The Wandering Walker, the Mad Monkey Hostel Group, which operates in Asia and Australia, has "only" ** hostels, * of which are in Southeast Asia. Similarly, Vietnam Backpackers' Hostels has just * establishments worldwide.
Thus, the hostel accommodation offer ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Player panel and offer typology
The offer in a nutshell
A quick look at the offers available on the Internet reveals that the different hostel accommodation packages are very similar. They offer a bed in a shared room or dormitory, access to sanitary facilities, as well as communal areas such as lounges and cafeterias where you ...
4.2 Youth hostels focus on price competitiveness with traditional hotels
Average rates for hostels and youth hostels are much lower than those for conventional hotels, while overall hotel prices have risen in recent years.
Average hotel price excluding tax January ****, France, in €/night Source: ****
we can see that even "super-eco" hotel offers have a higher average price than some hostels : for ...
4.3 Typology of prices in France
Looking in the Hostelworld catalog, taking the price for one person in August **** in several European capitals and in several French cities, we get the following table:
Source: ****
It's interesting to note that while prices are fairly similar between private groups, it seems that the FUAJ (***). [***]
Chains arriving in Paris will ...
4.4 Between "coliving" and "youth hostel" concepts
In recent years, we've seen the rise of"coliving", a lifestyle that falls somewhere between the concept of shared accommodation and that of a hotel residence. In effect, this concept implies the idea of sharing one's private life, but also of working with someone else, as in a coworking space. These ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Current regulations
Like all establishments catering to the general public, hostels and youth hostels must comply with current regulations on safety - concerning technical installations in particular - and with hygiene rules
As for youth hostels
The Ministry of Youth and Sports (***) Accommodation for schoolchildren (***) Organized stays (***)
Regulations relating to the Covid-** ...
5.2 Youth hostels can now be classified in 2022
Since September **, ****, youth hostels have been able to apply for classification. This classification certifies that the hostel meets * major quality criteria (***). [***]
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- St Christopher’s Inns
- Generator Hostels
- Jo & Joe
- France Hostels
- Meininger
- SLO Living Hostel
- Cool & Bed
- Vertigo
- Gastama
- Fédération Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse
List of charts presented in this market study
- Estimated size of the global youth hostel market
- Evolution and change in the number of international tourists compared to 2019
- Market size for "Tourist accommodation and other short-term accommodation"
- French hotel occupancy rates, by business segment
- Breakdown of hostel sales
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the youth hostel market | France
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