LAUNCHING A NEW WAY TO TRAVEL: THE SOLO SYSTEM

Solo travel never needs to be lonely – FACT! And yet, even the most seasoned solo travellers get pre-trip nerves. What we’re about to share will banish these anxious thoughts and fill every traveller with confidence that their travels will be as social as they want them to be. This is a new way to travel. You’ll go from solo to social in just a few taps, and all you need to do is update your Hostelworld app.

Intrigued? Well, read on and let us introduce you to The Solo System; it’s for solo travellers and beyond!

Solo travelling: What we’ve learnt

Over half of our customers are solo travellers, and they’ve told us one of the main reasons they book with us and stay in hostels is because they want to meet other travellers. We’ve also watched our community platform, The Common Room, fill up with travellers looking to meet other travellers on their upcoming trips. Our research says that 72% feel nervous ahead of their trip and 30% dread introducing themselves first. And until now we’ve been powerless to help.

Hostels are inherently social, but… there’s still the fear! Whether it’s your first solo adventure, or just a new city, state, or country, we realised so many of you want a little more certainty. It’s a basic human need to want to find that connection and belonging, even on the road, when life is so transient.

If you want to have a look at the research, we compiled this report: The Solo System: A Solo Traveller’s Guide to the Galaxy It’s packed full of solo travel insights, and interviews with some pretty legendary travellers.

With so many of you wanting to know who’s heading to your travel destination and connect before you arrive, we’ve found a way to make that happen. We’ve taken the best bits of the internet and used them to power real-life travelling friendships. The Hostelworld app has had a post-pandemic social glow up and we hope you like it.

Introducing The Solo System

The Solo System is your social travel toolkit, a set of new features in our app, designed to make your travelling life more sociable. If you’ve hesitated about taking a solo adventure, let us show you how to meet your people, while experiencing everything our incredible world has to offer.

What’s in The Solo System?

First up, you can See Who’s Going. Know how many travellers are visiting cities and staying in hostels on the dates you’re searching. So, before you even book you can suss out where’s popular and choose the right hostel for you. If you’ve ever said: ‘I want to meet other travellers, where should I book?’ Just do your destination choosing in our app and you’ll know where to head for a sociable adventure.

We’ve also upgraded traveller profiles to include profile photos and the destinations you’ve visited. Globetrotting bragging rights, but also a great conversation starter. As soon as you’ve booked you’ll be able to scroll through other travellers’ profiles, so long as they’re staying in the same destination as you.

This is where it starts getting super sociable. You can now Chat with travellers staying in the same hostel (and city) as you, before and during your trip. Start chatting online and connect in real life. If you’ve found yourself wondering: ‘I don’t have the confidence to introduce myself to travellers, how will I meet people?’ How about meeting them online first, before you’ve even left home, or start chatting in our app once you’ve arrived. You can even join the chats that are best suited to your travelling interests. Arrange to meet and you’ll enter that hostel with ready-made friends.

And finally, we have Linkups, which isn’t launching just yet, but we were too excited not to share. If you’re thinking about heading to some historic ruins, a street food session, or live music in a nearby bar, you can create a Linkup in our app, inviting other travellers to join you. Even if you don’t find your hostel pals in the common room, bar, pool, rooftop terrace, hammocks, or front step, you may well find them on Linkups.

So, could 2022 could be your year to take that solo trip?

You’ve heard about the Metaverse but first, explore our planet Earth!

Join The Solo System, For Solo Travellers and beyond!

Get the Hostelworld app and you’ll have access to The Solo System.