El Rio Hostel Update: How We Adapted To Guest Needs And Opened A Coworking Space
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
I’m Ben Davies, I run El Rio Hostel near Santa Marta on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. We provide quality accommodation to backpackers and holidaymakers both Colombian and international.
Right now we are working hard after a long time spent closed for the pandemic.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
Since the last article, we have reopened, back in December, and are currently working with an increasingly national market, with a steady flow of foreigners constantly coming through. Colombia lifted all restrictions and relaxed entry requirements recently, so we are envisaging an upturn in foreign visitors soon. Guest numbers have been steady, albeit much slower than usual.
We have recently opened a coworking space to adapt to the current need, as many of the foreign visitors we have been working or studying whilst on the move. We are also in the process of adding en-suites to our private rooms to adapt to the current clientele, who prefer to have a bit more privacy than the 100% backpacker crowd.
We have been pushing social media - specifically Instagram - much more this time around, using paid posts and also working with influencers who have a big Colombian following. Pre pandemic our percentage of Colombian guests was actually below 1% if you can believe it, so it was a slow start! We’ve boosted our followers up from just over 9k to just under 40k, which has thankfully translated to an uptick in bookings.
We receive a huge amount of direct bookings and sadly a lot of our reservations through Hostelworld have slowed to a trickle, which is a pity as they’ve always been unfailingly brilliant in terms of client service and looking after us.
Don’t focus on only one market and be open to change.
Moving forward we are looking at more direct stuff - a newsletter, further improvement of social media channels, and a slicker direct platform to book on.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Gosh, there have been a lot. I guess we took the free movement of people for granted a bit, so the first thing would be not solely relying on one market (in our case foreign travel!).
We’ve taken the reopening as an opportunity to focus on better business administration; I think it’s easy to forget when the money is rolling in constantly to check everything thoroughly and pay full attention to the financial side, whereas now we are way more on top of all that and scrutinize every payment. I’ve also learned more about useful accounting, even if it’s not the most fascinating topic out there!
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Right now we are focussing on getting back to 2019 levels. As I’ve mentioned above (once or twice!) we have our work cut out for us to get back to our pre-pandemic numbers, but it’s possible. I’m keeping an eye on the pandemic situation globally - sadly lots of countries are focussing on what’s going on within their borders as a priority so getting people traveling again has taken a bit of a back seat. In Europe and the UK especially it’s looking like it’ll be a while yet before people can move to Latin America with as much ease as before.
For now, we are focussing on the new breed of traveler (digital nomad, traveling students working and studying on the road, Colombian nationals) and hoping next year brings good news for Europeans, etc. We are also plugging hard with our foundation to keep our community projects alive, which has gone well.
We may have some news about future branches of El Rio, watch this space!
Have you read any good books in the last year?
Financial Intelligence - A Manager's Guide to Knowing What The Numbers Mean - that’s helped me a lot professionally. I also read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt over a quarantine last year, plus a book about Arabic history that I would never have got through if I hadn’t been stuck inside!
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Don’t focus on only one market and be open to change, without ever losing your key ethos. El Rio is a backpacker's place at heart, so our challenge has been convincing Colombians that they like that vibe! Turns out most that have been through do, and those that don’t probably won’t come back!
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
