One of my many roles as a gatherer of information – I read a ton of copy each day, from press releases to magazine articles to any number of breaking news items – is to separate relevant stuff, the material I believe my readers would enjoy, from promotional junk. This duty is especially important during tough economic times – our dollar is virtually worthless – because people want real value for any discretionary expenses. Particularly travel. And, while the sunny clime of Southern California may beckon foreigners who can spend with abandon, the same is not true for Americans seeking to do the same in Europe. Until now.
I recently read a truly helpful press release about a way for American citizens to visit Europe — affordably. Enter Hostelsclub.com, which is running an amazing campaign – a dollar for euro plan – that allows American citizens to stay in any number of popular locales – Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Rome, etc. – for a one-for-one rate between the dollar and the euro. To repeat: one dollar = one euro. In a turbulent economy, there is no smarter way – I am speaking to you, college students of America! – to travel throughout Europe. This deal also enables avid travelers to escape the tumult of America – the political insanity, the collapsing stock market and the national general malaise – and absorb the beauty of Europe. And the hostels? They’re clean, safe, charming and run by professionals.
Get to hostelsclub.com — and treat yourself right!
We did this interview via email:
1. What inspired HostelsClub.com to run this promotion?
Originally it was merely prompted by stats research that made us aware of the slowdown of US consumer booking, then there during a brainstorming process here at Hostelsclub.com the most out of the box, lateral thinking idea was awarded for this marketing campaign; previous to this brainstorm process our staff has been in direct contact with the USA culture, news, our customers etc. Hence the idea that really reflects the currents events and something that our US customers can immediately associate with;
2. How extensive is the number of hostels participating in this promotion?
Since we have close partnerships with hostels & properties all over Europe, we have been able to convince some of the best properties in each city to collaborate on the promotion. Therefore we have decent coverage in all the major European destinations.
3. How is the quality of accommodations?
Since our specialty is the budget end of the spectrum, we aren’t talking about Ritz quality—however the lodgings are clean, and the staff are friendly. What more do you need? 🙂
4. Who is the ideal traveler the company wants to target with this promotion?
Two segments: The people that want to come to Europe, either the student that have never been here before or the Europe aficionados, that have lost their motivation to come because they think that at the moment it’s too expensive; we want to show them that there still a way to travel to Europe without destroying their bank balance! The other segment represents the US citizens that are coming to Europe and that would be certainly happy to save some $ staying in the best quality hostels and budget accommodations in Europe
5. How expensive would it be (in American dollars) to stay in many of these places without the promotion?
They would have to pay almost 50% more than the price we have negotiated!
6. What kind of feedback has the promotion generated among travelers?
Since the promotion is new we are still waiting for feedback!
7. Please provide an overview of the history of HostelsClub.com?
HostelsClub.com started as a request based system in 1999 focusing on the Italian market. After a few years of operation in this fashion, we launched internationally with a fully automatic real-time system that provides travelers with instantly confirmed and guaranteed bookings.
