Youth Organizations

Hostelling International—American Youth Hostels (HI–AYH) is a nonprofit organization that emphasizes the values of simple and inexpensive travel and offers reasonable overnight accommodations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. The major educational aims of HI–AYH are to help people of all ages gain greater understanding of the world and other people through outdoor activity and educational travel and to develop fit, self-reliant, and well-informed citizens.

Program

HI–AYA offers inexpensive accommodations to travelers from around the world. Hostels may be located in urban high-rises with hundreds of beds or in small rural houses with fewer than twenty beds. Some hostels are located in preserved historic buildings. Most hostels have cafeterias or self-service kitchens; many also offer recreational facilities, meeting rooms, swimming pools, laundry facilities, libraries, and bicycle rental services. In 2001 overnight hostel rates ranged from $8 in rural areas to $24 in large cities such as New York City and San Francisco, California.

When travelers stay at HI–AYH hostels, the organization offers them the chance to meet and interact with other travelers and with people from the community where the hostel is located. HI–AYH programs help broaden a traveler's understanding of an American or foreign community by providing a rich intercultural experience. Programs are offered to groups and individuals and are variously designed for children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens. At many hostels special activities and programs are designed for people with disabilities and for disadvantaged youths.

Each summer HI–AYH plans and sponsors numerous hostelling trips through the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Japan, the Caribbean, and other areas. The trips, which are priced low enough to offer planned travel to people with limited financial means, range from one week to eight weeks. Hostelling International also offers educational and cultural tours in cities where hostels are located. Tours are conducted by local volunteer guides, who share inside information about their cities and neighborhoods, describe local history and customs, and offer tips about the most interesting places to visit and the best places to find good affordable meals.

The organization's Teach-In Program provides hostel guests and local school children and community members the opportunity to learn about one another's countries, customs, languages, and societies. The Cultural Kitchen program offers teenagers the chance to meet and talk with travelers from around the world. Participants stay overnight at a hostel and work in the hostel's kitchen to prepare and share an evening meal. Travelers to New England can participate in the Passport to Adventure Program, which focuses on geography, diversity awareness, and environmental education. The Discover Your World Program in southern California teaches interpersonal skills and intercultural understanding to economically and educationally disadvantaged youths from the Los Angeles area. Participants stay overnight at a Los Angeles hostel, meet with international travelers, and visit local museums and historical sites.

HI–AYH issues periodic Hostelling International Guides to sites around the world. The organization also publishes numerous newsletters, brochures, and bulletins to help people plan their trips. In addition, HI–AYH offers online travel resource centers, which are continually updated and include links, maps, advice about transportation and attractions, visa and customs laws, and other information.

Organization

HI–AYH operates a network of 125 hostels throughout the United States. The national organization comprises thirty-four associate councils, which function as local offices and provide visitors with special programs, events, and activities. Several HI–AYH council offices operate Travel Centers, where members can purchase train and bus passes, airline tickets, tickets to local attractions, backpacks, sleeping bags, and other travel necessities.

HI–AYH is headed by an executive director and a national board made up of representatives from the thirty-four associate councils. HI–AYH is affiliated with the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), a network with nearly 4,500 hostels in more than 70 countries.

Membership

Membership in HI–AYH is open to people of all ages. A member must purchase a hostel pass, which is valid for use in all hostels throughout the world. Membership is free for people under 18 years of age. Adults pay from $15 to $25 annually, depending on their age. People can also purchase lifetime memberships for $250. The organization's operating income comes from program and memberships fees, accommodation payments, private contributions, sales of publications, and partnerships with businesses involved in the travel industry.

History

The youth hostel idea was first conceived in 1909 in Germany by an elementary school teacher Richard Schirrman. Eleven national associations were represented at the first International Youth Hostel Conference, which was held in Amsterdam in 1932. In the United States, AYH was founded in 1934 by two school teachers, Monroe and Isabel Smith, who started the first American hostel in Northfield, Massachusetts. From its beginning, AYH has been a completely integrated movement. Hostels have been established on farms and in schools, camps, lodges, students' houses, and community centers; they are open to people of any age, nationality, income level, or religious affiliation. The first American urban hostel was opened in May 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Fairmont Park, when the city turned over the famous colonial Chamounix mansion to a local group for use as a metropolitan youth hostel.