3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
4.3 H OSTEL OWNER / MANAGER ’ S PROFILE
generally independently operated and owned. It is also very common that the owner of a hostel is also in charge of the managerial role. However, nowadays the hostel industry has been growing extremely fast, and even hostels have been changing their structure. Many hostels have now became structured chains, but the majority of them are still independent small business like the ones that are taken as part of this research’s sample.
4.3 Hostel owner/manager’s profile
Hostel managers/owners have different profiles between them. There is no standard background or requirement to be able to run a hostel. However, I have detected some patters between these hostel managers/owners to make it easier for the reader to understand this research.
One of the common factors that I found is the work enjoyment as a main motivation, which has been clear while interviewing them. The other one is the fact that they all considered themselves to be social oriented people, emphasizing their enjoyment of the dynamic atmosphere of a hostel and the easy interaction with people where they try to stay in touch with the staff team members and the hostel guests. Additionally, most of them mentioned that they can relate themselves with the travelers, since they have been traveling a lot in the past, and some still do whenever they get the opportunity.
As it has been stated, 15 interviews were conducted with hostel managers/owners from different cities and countries from around the globe. In the following paragraphs I will mention a small profile of each and every one of the hostel managers/owners interviewed and a little bit of background of the hostel they run, in order to give the reader a better overview of where the data will come from:
1. André Mesquita (AM): Owner of Home Lisbon and Yes Lisbon, based in Lisbon, Portugal. Both hostels have more than 80 beds. In 2014 the Home Lisbon Hostel was awarded of the best medium hostel in the world by Hostel World. André is 37 years old and started with his first hostel 10 years ago with the help of his family. The hostel is still family owned, but he is the one with the biggest share. He has a degree on Marketing Management and lived abroad for two years.
2. Sara Alho (SA): Manager of three hostels (Destination Hostel, Sunset Destination Hostel and Alfama Hostel), based in Lisbon. Both, the oldest and smallest of these hostels opened 10 years ago, with more than 100 beds. The hostels have been running for more than five years. She has been working at the hostel for one year. Sara is 25 years old, and has a background on International Management. She considers herself as a backpacker since she has been traveling a lot in the past years.
3. Alexander Vicens (AV): Manager of the Walrus Hostel based in London, UK. He has been working in hospitality for the past five years and a half. Alexander has a background in Tourism. He has lived in a lot of different countries, so he considers himself to be an international citizen. “My passion is hostel hospitality, I am very lucky to be involved in this project” (AV).
4. Márk Molnár (MM): Manager of Avenue Hostel based in Budapest, Hungary. Márk studied Philosophy. His priorities in life are social and his main motivation is to take care of his employees, rather than the business. “Social things are more important to me than just running a business” (MM):
5. Berit Bonde (BB): Manager of the New Guest House in Thailand. Berit is 31 years old and has a background education in Service Management. She has been working at the hostel for three years. She started traveling 10 years ago and she mentions her desire to keep traveling and exploring the world whenever she has the opportunity.
6. Fatima Martín (FM): Manager of the TOC Hostel in Madrid. She has been working at the hostel for eight months and she loves to travel. She mentions she has backpacked a lot in the past.
7. Dean Barlon (DB): Manager of The Horse and Stables in London. Dean is 29 years old and has been working at the hostel for three years. He has a background in Marketing
and Public Relations. “I definitely consider myself as a backpacker, still probably am whenever I can” (DB).
8. Joab Maranhao (JM): Owner at the Spire Hostel in Dublin. Joab is 38 years old and has a degree in Business Management. He has been working for this industry for five years.
He used to live at the hostel when he first arrived to Ireland;; he was doing housekeeping in exchange of accommodation and through the years took over the business.
9. Andrea W. (AW): Manager and Owner at both of the Paprika Hostels in Budapest. She is 35 years old and has been working in the hostel industry for four years. She started as a receptionist, then became the manager and finally then owner.
10. Ewa Patejko (EP): Manager at the Tramp Aparthostel in Cracow. She has been working there for three years and has a Masters Degree in European Studies, currently doing a PHD on Social Studies. “Traveling is my other job” (EP).
11. Xavier Simon (XS): Manager at the Posada de Huertas Hostel in Madrid. He has been working there since its inception (13 years). Xavier has a background education in International Business.
12. Paulina Woleck (PW): Manager at the Cracow Hostel. She is 33 years old and has a degree in Business Management. She has been working at the hostel for five years now.
“It is a good lifestyle to be surrounded by that many travelers from all around the world”
(PW).
13. Muriel O’connor (MO): Owner at the Globetrotters Hostel in Dublin. She is 50 years old and has been working there for 10 years. She has a background education in Psychology.
14. Olivia Rodriguez (OR): Manager at the hostel Room 007 in Madrid. Olivia is 34 years old and has worked at the hostel since it got opened, two years ago.
15. Pete Edwards (PE): Manager of Samsun Backpackers Lodge in Vancouver. Pete is 37 years old and has been working at the hostel industry for 10 years now. He started working in the kitchen and then worked his way up.
4.4 Social Network as a factor that influences the innovation decision-making