Partners and Benefactors
Genuine partnerships
set us apart
We strive to build true partnerships with all of the people, enterprises and institutions that are important to us. We consider close personal relationships and mutual agreement on fair conditions to be especially meaningful. We seek active cooperation with all key tourist organisations both at home and abroad. We promote both inter- and intra-organisational cooperation.
Locarno Youth Hostel
Regional partnerships
The social and economic integration of any youth hostel in the region is promoted and supported by the membership of trade associations and regional and local tourist organisations, as well as by the procurement and use of regional products.
At a number of locations, the owners/landlords of our youth hostels are important partners, who enable us to rent the properties at moderate, sometimes symbolic terms. In the reporting year, these were:
Baden Residential Commune of Baden | Burgdorf Stiftung Schloss Burgdorf (foundation) | Engelberg Cooperative Berghaus Engelberg Youth Hostel | Kreuzlingen City of Kreuzlingen | Laax Political Commune of Laax | Lausanne City of Lausanne | Mariastein-Rotberg Stiftung Jugendburg Rotberg (foundation) | Rotberg (foundation) | Pontresina Commune of Pontresina | Rapperswil-Jona City of Rapperswil-Jona | Richterswil Commune of Richterswil | Saas-Fee Aqua Allalin Commune of Saas-Fee | Schaan-Vaduz Youth Hostel Foundation Schaan-Vaduz | Schaffhausen Residential Commune of Schaffhausen | Seelisberg Swiss Confederation | Solothurn Residential Commune of Solothurn | St. Gallen Political Commune of St. Gallen
National presence
Parahotellerie Schweiz
Parahotellerie Schweiz was founded in 2011 by the Swiss Youth Hostels, REKA Swiss Travel Fund, Interhome, TCS Camping and BnB Switzerland. The defined objectives of this cooperation are the strengthening of all partners, joint representation of political interests, improved public perception and knowledge sharing.
An extensive partnership for political lobbying was agreed with HotellerieSuisse (the Swiss Hotel Association). The lobbying cooperation takes place at all stages of the legislative process on the basis of open and transparent exchange. The collaboration provides an opportunity to give more weight to the concerns and interests of the sector, and to represent the whole area of accommodation through a common presence in the political process.
Barrierefreie Schweiz (Barrier-free Switzerland)
In Europe, 15% of the population live with disabilities, which corresponds to 80 million people (EDF 2015). For these people, self-sufficient travel represents a major need. We are resolutely pursuing the expansion of offers and services for this guest segment. From 2013 to 2016, the comprehensive project “Holidays – access for all”, was successfully completed with the Denk an mich (Think of Me) Foundation.
Immediately after this collaboration project, the project “Barrier-free Switzerland” was created. The support association Barrierefreie Schweiz (Barrier-free Switzerland) was founded in Zurich in 2016. The objective of the association is to highlight current travel information in a clearly structured manner and to make it broadly accessible for persons with disabilities in Swiss tourism. In the meantime, an extensive Innotour project known as “OK:GO” has been developed and has already made significant progress. With the foundation of the “Sitios” association, the project now aims to have an impact beyond tourism.
International cooperation
Hostelling International (HI)
The Swiss Youth Hostels have been a member of Hostelling International since their foundation in 1932. The objective of Hostelling International is to promote the education and upbringing of young people from all nations and in particular of young people with limited financial resources. These people are encouraged to learn extensively about – as well as to love and cherish – nature, and to appreciate the cultural values of small and large cities all over the world. To support these objectives, Hostelling International coordinates the mutual recognition of membership, develops and promotes national networks and associations, defines quality standards, coordinates marketing activities and maintains the website www.hihostels.com.
European Union Federation of Youth Hostel Associations (EUFED)
It is the duty of EUFED to coordinate and cultivate cooperation and networking between European youth hostel associations on the basis of shared values. The Swiss Youth Hostels have been a full member of EUFED since 2018.
Positions/membership of committees
Janine Bunte, CEO Swiss Youth Hostels
- Parahotellerie Switzerland, Chair
- Cooperative discover.swiss, Vice President
- Association discover.swiss, President
- discover.cloud AG, member of the Board of Directors
- Association Schneesportinitiative, GoSnow, member of the Executive Board
- Advisory group for tourism policy, member
- Strategic Development Group of Hostelling International, member
Katharina Leu, Director Sales Swiss Youth Hostels
- Working Group Future of HI Web Services of Hostelling International, member
Stephan Kurmann, former President Swiss Youth Hostels
- Hostelling International, President
Memberships
Benefactors
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
TOTAL in CHF | 83,635 | 154,578 | 50,262 |
Communes/Cities in CHF | 16,850 | 16,674 | 15,700 |
Suppliers in CHF | 8,505 | 712 | 310 |
Private individuals in CHF | 58,281 | 137,192 | 34,252 |
2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
TOTAL in CHF | 154,578 | 50,262 |
Communes/Cities in CHF | 16,674 | 15,700 |
Suppliers in CHF | 712 | 310 |
Private individuals in CHF | 137,192 | 34,252 |
The Swiss Youth Hostels could once again count on the support of communes, suppliers and private individuals in 2022.
We greatly appreciate the support of our benefactors. As a non-profit organisation, we also owe it to our partners and benefactors to ensure that sustainable and social tourism has a future.
