Hostels are lodging establishments designed to provide affordable, communal accommodation primarily targeting budget-conscious travelers. These facilities typically offer shared rooms (dormitories) and sometimes private rooms, along with communal bathrooms, kitchens and social spaces.
The hostels market consists of sales, by entities (organizations, sole traders, or partnerships), of hostels that are used predominantly by young travelers, backpackers, solo adventurers, digital nomads and cost-sensitive business visitors, hostels serve as an economical alternative to hotels and vacation rentals. Consumption often occurs during holidays, semester breaks, extended trips, or periods of temporary work or volunteering abroad.
The global hostels market was valued at $3,711.36 million in 2019 which grew till 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 6.00%.
Rise Of Solo Travel
During the historic period, the rise of solo travel supported the growth of the hostels market. Solo travelers typically prioritize affordability, as they bear lodging expenses alone. Hostels present a budget-friendly alternative to hotels, often bundling complimentary services such as Wi-Fi and breakfast. This value-driven model appeals strongly to price-sensitive segments like students, backpackers and remote workers. Their community-oriented design fosters social interaction through shared spaces and events, enhancing the solo travel experience. Additionally, hostels provide flexible booking options with no minimum stay requirements and simple check-in/check-out processes, catering perfectly to spontaneous travel plans. For instance, in March 2024, according to a report by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA Ltd), a UK-based trade association, the most significant year-on-year growth was seen in the 35-44 age group, where the number of solo travelers more than doubled, rising from 6% in 2022 to 13% in 2023. Therefore, the rise of solo travel drove the growth of the hostels market.
Innovative Hostel Brands Redefine Budget Travel Experiences
Major companies operating in the hostels market are focusing on developing innovative hostel brands to enhance guest experiences by incorporating natural materials and local characteristics. These brands combine affordable stays with boutique-style amenities, targeting millennials and digital nomads seeking social yet functional spaces. For example, in February 2025, Daiwa Life Next, a Japan-based property development company, launched a new hostel brand, "GRAND HOSTEL LDK," targeting the growing demand for quality, affordable accommodation. As part of this initiative, the company will open its flagship property, "GRAND HOSTEL LDK Tokyo Nishi-Kasai," a large-scale hostel designed to cater to domestic and international travelers. The project reflects Daiwa's strategy to diversify its real estate portfolio and tap into Japan's booming tourism and hospitality sectors. The brand emphasizes community living, modern amenities and convenient urban locations to appeal to the next generation of budget-conscious travelers.
The global hostels market is fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 9.13% of the total market in 2024.
Hostels Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2034 from The Business Research Company provides the strategists; marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global hostels market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down.
Reasons to Purchase
- Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 15 geographies.
- Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.
- Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
- Identify growth segments for investment.
- Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
- Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.
- Benchmark performance against key competitors.
- Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.
- Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high-quality data and analysis.
Where is the largest and fastest-growing market for hostels? How does the market relate to the overall economy; demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The hostels market global report from The Business Research Company answers all these questions and many more.
The report covers market characteristics; size and growth; segmentation; regional and country breakdowns; competitive landscape; market shares; trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's history and forecasts market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider hostels market; and compares it with other markets.
The report covers the following chapters
- Introduction and Market Characteristics- Brief introduction to the segmentations covered in the market, definitions and explanations about the segment by price point, by type and by booking.
- Key Trends- Highlights the major trends shaping the global market. This section also highlights likely future developments in the market.
- Growth Analysis And Strategic Analysis Framework- Analysis on PESTEL, end use industries, market growth rate, global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods, forecast growth contributors and total addressable market (TAM).
- Global Market Size And Growth- Global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods.
- Regional And Country Analysis- Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison by region and country.
- Market Segmentation- Contains the market values (2019-2024) (2024-2029, 2034F) and analysis for each segment by price point, by type and by booking in the market. Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029) and (2029-2034) market values and growth and market share comparison by region market.
- Regional Market Size and Growth- Regional market size (2024), historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison of countries within the region. This report includes information on all the regions Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa and major countries within each region.
- Competitive Landscape- Details on the competitive landscape of the market, estimated market shares and company profiles of the leading players.
- Other Major And Innovative Companies- Details on the company profiles of other major and innovative companies in the market.
- Competitive Benchmarking- Briefs on the financials comparison between major players in the market.
- Competitive Dashboard- Briefs on competitive dashboard of major players.
- Key Mergers and Acquisitions- Information on recent mergers and acquisitions in the market is covered in the report. This section gives key financial details of mergers and acquisitions which have shaped the market in recent years.
- Recent Developments- Information on recent developments in the market covered in the report.
- Market Opportunities And Strategies- Describes market opportunities and strategies based on findings of the research, with information on growth opportunities across countries, segments and strategies to be followed in those markets.
- Conclusions And Recommendations- This section includes recommendations for hostels providers in terms of product/service offerings geographic expansion, marketing strategies and target groups.
- Appendix- This section includes details on the NAICS codes covered, abbreviations and currencies codes used in this report.
Markets Covered:
- 1) By Price Point: Economy; Mid-Range; Luxury
- 2) By Type: Students; Workers; Other Types
- 3) By Booking: Online Bookings; Direct Bookings; Other Mode Of Booking
- Companies Mentioned: A&O Hotels and Hostels; Selina Hostels & Hotels; YHA England & Wales; Nomads World Hotels Pty. Ltd.; Mad Monkey Hostels
- Countries: China; Australia; India; Indonesia; Japan; South Korea; USA; Canada; Brazil; France; Germany; UK; Italy; Spain; Russia
- Regions: Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa
- Time-series: Five years historic and ten years forecast.
- Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets; GDP proportions; expenditure per capita; hostels indicators comparison.
- Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data; market share of competitors; market segments.
- Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.