Hostelling International (HI), a federation of more than 70 National Youth Hostel Associations in more than 80 countries, announced that the 54th HI Conference will be held in Qatar in 2022. The announcement was made after Qatar won the vote by a wide majority at the HI Conference recently held in Iceland. The biennial conference, which will take place in October 2022 in Doha, is expected to draw more than 120 HI representatives, hostel operators, and travel enthusiasts from around the world.

Hostelling conference

Hostelling International CEO Darren Barker, was pleased with Qatar’s generous offer to host the event. He said that he’s really happy to be going to Qatar and absorbing the culture of the region. Qatar’s winning joint bid to host the conference demonstrates the success of Qatar Youth Hostel (QYH) and the National Tourism Council (NTC) in promoting Qatar as a youth-friendly tourism destination.

NTC Official Ahmed Al Obaidli said that they too, are looking forward to embracing the spirit of hospitality and exploration embodied by Hostelling International, and to welcoming hospitality professionals from all over the world at the HI conference.

In the lead-up to the bid, QHY has been working on building relations with a number of youth organisations around the world such as YHA Australia, FUAJ France, DJH Germany, AIG Italy, HI Korea, and HI-USA. QHY also joined several exciting programmes offered by HI. Qatar is now a participant in HI-Connect, an employment scheme which allows youths to stay free at select HI locations around the world in exchange for working at HI hostels. QYH offers discounts on nightly rates to HI members through the organisation’s Digital Membership.

QYH CEO Ahmed Hassan Al Obaidly thanked everyone who supported their bid, particularly the Ministry of Culture and Sport, NTC and Qatar Museums. He also expressed his thanks to all HI members.

Qatar hosted a total of 99 exhibitions and 58 conferences in 2017 — a 30% increase compared to 2015. Qatar also recently won the rights to host the All Together Better Health conference in 2020 and the AICR Congress (International Association for Deputy Managers and Front Office Managers of Luxury Hotels) and Les Clefs d’Or International Congress in 2021.

For updates and more information about Qatar Youth Hostel, visit hi-qatar.com.