Maribor is the city that held two prestigious titles in the last few years – it was the European cultural capital and the European youth capital. A word hostel is very familiar to people of Maribor as the first one started two decades ago in the Dormitory of at Pobrežje. It was only open during the summer and with just a few bookings, but in the two decades that followed, Maribor was transforming from an industrial centre into a tourist city with a city road train »Jurček« and a boat »Dravska vila« taking you on the sightseeing tours of the city. The oldest grape vine in the world, Pohorje mountain and all the other opportunities of Maribor attract more and more tourists each year, among them the youth population is also increasing. For several years the UNI-hostel offers beds in the old hotel “Zamorc” in the very centre of the city, with hostel Mlada Lipe under the mountain and the latest addition to the hosteling family being Pekarna, functioning in the place of the former army bakery at the Magdalena park just a few meters from the city centre. Upon gaining the HIQ certificate we talked to the manager of hostel Pekarna, Lidija Repino, who said this for the Globetrotter:
What was it like in your town, before you decided to join the call for a youth hostel?
The investment in the hostel followed the planned investments of the Maribor city municipality for the period of 2007-2011 and the set goals of the development of the youth tourist infrastructure and complementary activities for tourism, as well as increasing the capacities for performing youth and urbane programs. The positive effects of the investments reflect in the setting up of the creative youth centre with regional effect.
Maribor featured only a low number of hostels when we joined the tender, and some of them had a pricing policy which did not really make them appropriate for youth tourism. Therefore we’ve decided along with the city municipality to get the funding for refurbishing KC Pekarna and start to build the hostel. We have the advantage over competition, which we identified straight off, such as the tradition of alternative cultural activities at the center of Pekarna, at a location easily accessible by public transport and with the potential of development of our own parking spaces. The city centre is just across the bridge and the shops and restaurants are right nearby. The price compared to value of our hostel is also a great advantage, as it offers a whole new rage of accommodation, including dormitory rooms. The youth hostel users want to have a budget friendly accommodation with the possibility of preparing their own meals, washing clothes, internet access, attendance at youth program activities, freshly updated information about happenings (events in the city and transport information to find a connection to continue the travels), but also a place to meet the peers, exchange experience, mingle and relax in a common room.
How did the hostel help develop your youth tourism?
Investments in youth tourism follows the development priorities of connecting natural and cultural potentials of the city to raise the competitiveness of the tourist industry. By investing into tourist infrastructure the accommodation capabilities have increased and the number of overnight stays has increased. We’ve also set up an appropriate place for the youth centre and ensured the informal program of learning can continue (mostly for the youth that exchanges experience) as well as intercultural practices encouraged the increased mobility of the youth.
The project contributed to the competitiveness of tourism, recognisability of the destination and Slovenia, faster tourist development, creation of new employment, faster regional development and increasing the educational capability of the youth.
How does the hostel contribute to the development of youth working competences?
Youth Hostel supports and enables the implementation of sustainable activities within the youth cultural programme. It allows for the greater recognisability of the youth and urbane cultural programs and enables for greater inclusion of the youth in youth work. Youth work and youth cultural program, along with youth tourism are all supported by the infrastructure of the hostel.
As you are new to the field of tourism/accommodation, what was the hardest for you?
Employed at the Youth cultural center a part of which is also the
hostel Pekarna, were not directly involved in tourism before the hostel was initiated, but we have been educating and training for it, by collecting information and tips on running a hostel for a good year before starting the business. We went through all the necessary things, such as the legislative and administration of a hostel, business planning, preparation of software for reception work and catering meant for the guests… and we’ve prepared the set of guidelines for the new staff. The preparation of promotional material, setting up services and prices, setting up packages with local actors in the field of tourism and beyond… Upon opening the hostel team work was of the greatest importance, as we had to do it all from scratch. This includes setting up templates for work, on the job training at the desk, starting e-guest program, dealing with water and space, setting up the functionality of the reception, working with guests, creating offers, marketing, networking with other tourist stakeholders and so on.
How satisfied are you with the membership in the HI network? What does the membership mean for you and what would you advise? We’re very satisfied, as it gave us a greater recognisablity in the international space, where the network is really active. The organization itself enables exchange of experience and better connections among hostels, but also for help and support in various fields of hosteling work, along with joint promotion on the national and international level.
Why did you decide to apply for the HI-Q light system?
We had quite a lot of evidence and guidelines prepared before we’ve decided to set up the HI-Q light system. The implementation of the HI-Q light quality system meant that some steps and procedures became even more manageable in various fields. The system alone redistributed work among individuals, who were involved, which meant that there were less mistakes or misunderstandings.
How do you rate the HI-Q light system and how does it help you?
We are using the HI-Q light in some fields on daily basis, some weekly and some only monthly. The information is always at hand and in writing, so you can always check on them and all involved have a better overview of what is being done. We’ve also prepared the basic folder with descriptions and archive and completed it with more information to get a high quality folder of guidelines for new staff members or part time help. This shortens the on-job training tremendously.
Can you give us a practical example of how HI-Q light helped your work?
HI-Q light quality system brought us a lot of overview and made the work on various lovels much easier. The record we keep on the marks we get at the booking portals show us where we need to improve, as the guests are marking us on five different topics. If we can, we make the change. That is why we also need the feedback at the reception, but also keep track of lost&found, damaged things and a dairy of maintenance.
