Collaboration & coherence to combat the spread of COVID-19
updated on Saturday March 28th 2020
Famous Hostels is an association of individually owned hostels who work together in prosperity but also in times of hardship. In our network are 38 independent hostels located in 18 different countries across and beyond Europe. Each hostel has been heavily affected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus and all express concerns for the upcoming months.
The purpose of the EFH Association has always been crystal clear: offer travellers a genuine backpacker experience. But we struggle in translating this mission into a coherence response to the current travel bans and the subsequent cancellation requests. We care about travel safety and want to ensure that travelers with reservations receive maximum flexibility to change their travel plans. However we can’t ignore the financial difficulties that our members are facing and want to help protect their business against bankruptcy.
While Famous Hostels purpose of offering travellings a genuine backpackers experience remains the core of it Ethos, we struggle to translate this mission into a coherence response to
It is therefore that we have come with the following recommendations:
- Hostels follow government recommendations
The decision on whether or not to remain open should first and foremost depend on the recommendation of the government. EFH supports the hostels within its network that choose to close the business to protect the health of its staff members. - Reservations with flexible cancellation policies
The cancellation policies that guests agreed to upon booking remain valid as long as the hostel remains in operations. Guests who agreed to flexible cancellation policies and no longer wish to travel are still expected to give notice within the given cancellation period. Failure to honor the cancellation policy can still result in cancellation and no-show fees. - Reservations with non-refundable cancellation policies
We recommend hostels within the EFH network to offer added flexibility to non-refundable reservations but to reject refund requests. Guests are recommended to cancel the reservation and claim the loss of money from their travel insurance. We hope that hostels can offer added flexibility to non-refundable reservations by offering guests the opportunity to postpone the reservation to a later date.
Please note that above points are solely recommendations that the EFH association is making in an attempt to promote a coherence response amongst its members. Members are by no means obligated to these recommendations as we understand that each hostel faces unique challenges that can call for alternative approaches.
