Foreword
Financial Year 2024
The Swiss Youth Hostels have arrived in their second century. 2024 was filled with experiences, encounters and joint activities. To be 100 years young is a privilege. To feel valued and full of energy is another. We have lots of exciting things to report!
Martigny Youth Hostel
Dear Readers,
On 28 April 2024, the Swiss Youth Hostels Association celebrated its 100th anniversary. We look back on a century in which we enabled countless people to experience unforgettable travel adventures. Our vision of creating a world in which every person can experience encounters and joint activities in a spirit of solidarity, responsibility and joie de vivre inspires us every day.
2024 was a special year. We celebrated our 100th anniversary full of experiences, encounters and joint activities. We achieved 813,412 overnight stays. This was 0.8% up on the prior year (807,196). Overnight stays abroad increased by 10.3%, with domestic overnight stays falling by 2.7%. At 70.8% (prior year 73.3%), the proportion of Swiss guests levelled off in line with the long-term average.
In 2024, the network of the Swiss Youth Hostels consisted of 42 own and 7 franchise hostels. This is constantly being renewed and developed in collaboration with the Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism. For example, the new youth hostel in Martigny opened at the end of February 2025, to be followed by the new Geneva Youth Hostel in summer 2026. Construction began on 1 July 2024.
Winter sports camps 2024, Interlaken Youth Hostel
Winter sports camps 2024, Interlaken Youth Hostel
One of the highlights of the year was the inclusive winter sports camp in Interlaken, which was held for the first time in February 2024 to mark the 100th anniversary. Together with important partners such as the Denk an mich Foundation, KulturLegi Switzerland, PluSport and many other benefactors, more than 70 children – including those with disabilities – enjoyed an unforgettable week of sport, games and fun at the Interlaken Youth Hostel and on the Grindelwald ski slope. Shortly afterwards, the management team of the Swiss Youth Hostels decided that the inclusive snow sports camp should become an integral part of our activities with immediate effect. It was held for the second time with great success in February 2025, and the beds for 2026 have already been reserved.
One special highlight of the year was the centenary celebration on 28 April 2024. Together with around 500 guests, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Swiss Youth Hostels at the Bächlihof in Jona. In his speech, Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin was enthusiastic about the diversity of the youth hostels on offer. He commended our commitment to resource-saving operations and the fact that many of our youth hostels are barrier-free. He motivated us to continue to focus on social values and emphasised the importance of offering youth hostels in Switzerland. He hoped that we would continue to remain open to new ideas, as well as innovative and flexible. Thank you once again for visiting us. It was a great honour for us.
Reporting is mainly in digital format. A short print version provides a quick overview of important key data from the reporting year 2024 and refers interested parties to the detailed digital reporting. It offers interesting insights from the past financial year as well as an outlook to the future.
With a great deal of foresight and prudence, a large number of people have committed themselves to our organisation and the achievement of our civic goals over the course of more than 100 years. In particular, those who have done so in an honorary post deserve our respect and our resounding thanks.
We would also like to express our sincere thanks to all our employees, the honorary members of the Executive Board, the delegates, the Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism, our members and benefactors as well as our partners for their wonderful support.
End of March 2025
Frank Reutlinger
President
Janine Bunte
CEO
