Review and outlook for 2025
Klimaziele, Digital-
projekte und Netzwerkentwicklung
Model of the Geneva Youth Hostel, opening July 2026
Climate strategy
The Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism and the Swiss Youth Hostels have been committed to effective climate protection for many years as part of their overall strategy of sustainable corporate governance. They have been systematically reducing harmful CO2 emissions since the mid-1990s.
Since 2008, they have committed to reducing CO2 emissions vis-à-vis the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. A reduction path with a reduction obligation was pursued for the period from 2008 to 2024, which is essentially based on the following principle: avoid first, then reduce, compensate the rest. The ambitious targets agreed were even exceeded over the entire 17-year contract period and the specific CO2 load was reduced by 67% – an enormous success.
Based on their climate strategy, the two organisations want to continue to play a pioneering role in the future and achieve the net zero target (-90%) as early as possible before 2050. To this end, they will conclude a new target agreement and draw up a detailed decarbonisation plan in line with the previous, extremely successful principle.
Digital development projects
At the beginning of 2025, a newly developed booking strip was launched on the website www.youthhostel.ch. It is now very easy to display youth hostels with availability. This function is primarily intended for spontaneous travellers who are still flexible in their choice of location.
The new booking strip is part of a comprehensive digitalisation strategy. In 2024, the guest portal my.youthhostel.ch was launched, which enables our members and registered users to make digital purchases and manage their personal data easily. The new booking platform will be launched during 2025. It will include additional functions to book third-party services in addition to accommodation and meals at the youth hostel. In one of the next steps of the project, booking enquiries for groups and schools will also be simplified further. Despite many planned development steps in digitalisation, our focus at the youth hostels will continue to be on the encounters between people.
Current youth hostel projects
In 2022, the town of Martigny approached the Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism with a request to construct a youth hostel in the historic “Bâtiment de l’Horloge”. Construction of the 48-bed youth hostel started immediately, financed by patron of the arts Léonard Gianadda, who has since unfortunately passed away. Following extensive renovation and conversion work, the listed building was opened on 28 February 2025.
Geneva is an enormously important location for the Swiss Youth Hostels. The result of a project competition for a youth hostel on the site of municipal sports facilities was developed further. The youth hostel will enable the city of Geneva to have access to affordable beds for the training facilities that are urgently needed for sport, and we will be able to close the important gap in the network. Construction began on 1 July 2024. The new youth hostel is scheduled to open in summer 2026.
Since 2006 and the takeover by the Swiss Youth Hostels, the Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism has been renting the “Jeunotel” from the city of Lausanne, which was built between 1991 and 1993. After more than 30 years of operation, the youth hostel is in urgent need of comprehensive energy-related renovation and substantial refurbishment as well as improvements to its ambience. At the end of 2024, an agreement on project collaboration and a lease extension were mutually signed. The project was also launched before the end of the year.
New office
The offices of the Swiss Youth Hostels and the Swiss Foundation for Social Tourism have been located at Schaffhauserstrasse 14 in Zurich for more than 30 years. At the end of 2025, we will be moving to a new, modern office environment. The joint project group has already found suitable premises in a central location in Zurich and has started planning the necessary conversions.
In April 2025
