Irish-headquartered Hostelworld has reported a 9pc increase in net bookings to 3.7m, led by demand for destinations in Asia and Central America, with net revenue for the first half of 2024 reaching €46.4m
Despite a slight 1pc increase in net revenue year-on-year, the company’s operating profit surged to €4m from a loss in the same period in 2023, with adjusted earnings (Ebitda) reaching €9.6m compared to €5.1m in the prior year
Hostelworld’s social strategy allowing travellers to connect “in destination” via the app has been successful, aiding in reducing marketing costs, with 62pc of its customers being solo travelers who value interaction with fellow travellers
The company’s sustainability efforts, including the “staircase to sustainability” initiative, appeal to its environmentally conscious customer base, with Hostelworld’s biggest markets being the UK, Europe, and North America, while seeing growing demand from within Asia. The business demonstrates strong operating cash flow, enabling early repayment of debts and investment in growth.
CEO Gary Morrison said: “The business made good progress during the first half of the year on all aspects of its growth strategy. We have continued to provide our customers with enhanced social network product features, added more hostel inventory to our platform, and have continued to upgrade our platform towards a fully cloud-native architecture. In respect of delivering on our key sustainability strategic goals, we launched our ‘staircase to sustainability’ platform to deliver ongoing sustainability improvements in the hostel industry. Hostelworld’s customer base is relatively insulated from the kind of cost-of-living squeeze affecting family groups and older cohorts. I am very pleased to report strong growth in net bookings (+9pc year-on-year) and even stronger growth in net margins (+23pc), primarily driven by our highly differentiated social strategy. This performance, coupled with operating cost discipline, has translated directly into strong operating cashflow enabling us to fully repay our residual debt facility with AIB, two years ahead of schedule.”
