When the New Zealand branch of the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) collapsed in 2021 and the country’s 11 hostels were forced to close, staff and punters alike were shocked. General manager Simon Cartwright cited the pandemic as the primary cause of the downturn in tourism revenues and the association’s financial woes. “YHA,” he said, “has been a cornerstone of youth travel in New Zealand for 89 years”.
Similar feelings of nostalgia and sadness have beset generations of intrepid domestic travellers in the UK, since the England and Wales branch of the association announced, in June 2023, that it would be selling off 20 of its remaining 150 hostels. “Is there any map symbol more reassuring to a wet and weary walker,” asked one journalist bemoaning this news, than the YHA’s “red triangle?” What will those weary walkers do without them, was their worry.
YHA hostels were once celebrated as the very antithesis of the hotel. They were communal spaces catering to young people on small budgets.
