Zostel Hospitality to open 14 branded hostels by year end

Online budget accommodation aggregator Zostel Hospitality is planning to launch 14 more branded hostels for backpackers by end of the year across national and international destinations.

"We are focusing on growing the Zostel network to 25 properties across national and international destinations. We are focusing on Southeast Asia and Europe for now, having successfully opened our first international Zostel in Vietnam," Zostel Hospitality Co-founder Akhil Malik said.

In India, the new hostels will come up in locations such as Khajuraho, Jaipur, Mysore, Ooty, Manali, Spiti, Leh, Puri, and Kochi, he added. "The new international properties will be launched in Hanoi in Vietnam, Pattaya in Thailand, Mt Lavinia and Ella in Srilanka and Porto in Portugal," Malik said.

The company, at present, has 11 hostels in Rishikesh, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra, Varanasi, Delhi, Goa and Vietnam. Currently, over 20,000 backpackers stay in Zostels every month.

On the business model, he said the company ties up with aspiring entrepreneurs through its Zostel 

Entrepreneurship Development Programme, under which performance linked seed capital of Rs 10 lakh is provided after a property is launched.