77,000 visitors to HI New York/year
225,000 overnights per year
ADR of 47+ USD
$222m USA contributed annually to the local economy
Support from New York City agencies including NYC & Co. (NYC Tourism Board), Mayor’s Office of Special Services, and Special Enforcement Task Force
3. New York City
8,175,133 inhabitants
52-million visitors in 2011,
up from 35 million in 2001. HI New York
4. Why build a hostel in New York?
• 77,000 visitors to HI New York/year
•225,000 overnights per year
•ADR of 47+ USD
• $222m USA contributed annually to the local
economy
•Support from New York City agencies including
NYC & Co. (NYC Tourism Board), Mayor’s
Office of Special Services, and Special
Enforcement Task Force
7. Background of The New Law
• Intent: close loopholes in current law that allowed
residential properties, as well as SRO’s (Single Room
Occupancy) structures to be used as Hostels.
• Went in to effect May 1st, 2011
• All hostels must be zoned properly (not “residential”) -
• Most hostels must have two means of egress inside the
structure
• Must follow all commercial fire codes
for hotels
8. No. Active Hostels No. of Hostels per Million Tourists
25 4
3.5
20
3
15 2.5
2
10 1.5
1
5
0.5
0 0
New York Los Angeles San Washington Miami Boston
Francisco DC
9. No. Active Hostels No. Tourists per Hostel (Millions)
120 0.45
0.4
100
0.35
80 0.3
0.25
60
0.2
40 0.15
0.1
20
0.05
0 0
London Berlin Sydney Lisbon New York
10. Key Trends
• Declines of <10%> - <13%> in Hostel
bookings in 2010 and YTD 2011 when the
impact of legislation started to be felt
• Travelers increasingly choosing other
destinations in the US over New York City
directly related to hostel closures. These
include but are not limited to:
• Los Angeles +30%
• San Francisco +41%
• Boston +27%
11. Key Trends
• New Hostels have opened in the cities shown
below, enabling these high levels of growth.
• San Francisco: 2 new Hostels opened
40 up with a combined 275 beds.
• Washington DC: 4 new Hostels
30
opened up adding approximately 170
20
new beds
• Las Vegas: 5 new Hostels totaling 424
10 beds
0
2008 2009 1010 YTD
-10 2011 Hostel booking
growth NYC
-20
12. Hostel Bookings Growth: New York City vs. other US
cities
2009 2010 YTD 2011
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-20
New York San Boston Los Angeles Miami Washington
Francisco DC
Introduction GM from HI New YorkDiscussing the hostelling landscape in New York, the new legal environment and opportunities for growth in the area
New York City is located in New York State on the east coast of The United States of America. It is made-up of over 8-million people that play host to approximately 52-million visitors annually.
HI New York hosts nearly 80,000 visitors a year pumping nearly $222m annually into the local economy (average $150 per overnight)Hostel closings in 2010 have created significant opportunity for growth
The impact of hotel closures is evident from this data, which shows a decline in the number of hostels within New York City. In 2009, there were 85 active hostels, but that has dropped to 21 as of June 2012.
The Hostel accommodation market in New York last year (FY 2011) was approx. $168m. Given the impact of closures over the course of 2010 and 2011, it is expected that this figure has declined considerably.
The legal loopholes that were closed beginning in May 1st of 2011 were intended to curb the categorization of SROs as hostels. As a result, nearly 85% of hostels were effectively closed down by the Department of Buildings.
There are approximately 21 Hostels in New York City. When ranked alongside other major tourist cities in the US, this is a significant number, however, when analyzed against estimated number of tourists who travel to each city on an annual basis, it is clear that New York City is underserved by hostels presently. NYC currently has just one hostel per 2,000,000 tourists. While this is exceeded by cities such as Miami and Las Vegas, it ranks considerably lower than Washing DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles
When analyzed against key tourist cities internationally, the opportunity becomes more evident. Here we show the valuable contribution of hostels within the tourist sector in these key cities in Europe and Austriasia. London shows over 100 hostels while that city had approximately 30-million tourists in 2010, while Berlin has 90 Hostels and in excess of 10-million visitors last year. On average, this data shows one Hostel per 200,000 visitors, which compares to New York at one per 2,000,000 visitors.
Gateway cities like LA, San Francisco and Boston are becoming increasingly attractive options by comparison to New York because they have more affordable, accessible locations.
Hostelling in the USA has become and will continue to be the preferred way to travel within the States and abroad for our key market of 18 – 30-year olds. New York City has left a void in this critical travel segment that eventually will be filled by business-savvy developers in our borought like Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Cities across America have enjoyed a boom in Hostel stays. New york City is fighting its way back to being the world leader in overnights. Tyhis will only happen with creative development in the near and distant future.
Thanks you all for your time. I look forward to exchanging ideas on how we – together – can bring Hostelling back to New York city in a very big way.