About Hostelling International

About Hostelling International

Hostelling International is the brand name of the non-profit International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) and its members National Youth Hostel Associations around the world. Our name is your reassurance of good quality budget accommodation that you can trust. HI Hostels enable you to meet people of different cultures, backgrounds and experiences, and provide a rich resource for learning and for building a better, more peaceful world. HI has been operating for more than 80 years with one mission at heart: “to promote the education of all young people of all nations, but especially young people of limited means, by encouraging in them a greater knowledge, love and care of the countryside and an appreciation of the cultural values of towns and cities in all parts of the world, and as an ancillary thereto to provide hostels or other accommodation in which there shall be no distinctions of race, nationality, colour, religion, sex, class or political opinions, and thereby to develop a better understanding of fellow men at home and abroad”.

YHA– Youth Hostel Association

Yha is the short term for  ‘Youth Hostel Association’ and many of the Youth Hostel Associations formed because of, or are members of Hostelling International.  Hostelling International is a global not for profit federation setup in 1932 to help young people learn about the world they live in. 

Hostelling International have member organisations who are known as ‘yha’ in around 20 different countries and some of the larger organisations exist in:

•        England and Wales called ‘YHA England & Wales’

•        Australia called ‘YHA Australia’

•        New Zealand called ‘YHA New Zealand’

•        China called ‘YHA China’

•        Pakistan named ‘Pakistan YHA’

Across all the organisations who operate using the yha name, we have over 700 youth hostels spread across around 600 cities.   Some of the most popular yha hostels are located in cities like London, Oxford, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Hong Kong. 

You can book stays at most of those youth hostels on our website hihostels.com or you can join yha by buying an Membership which will either grant you access to the hostels or a 10% discount.  You can also of course buy a yha membership from your local yha organisation.

All of the Youth Hostel Associations operate as a not-for-profit organisation with the aim to help young people of limited means. 

In some countries, organisation have changed their names hence you won’t find a YHA USA or YHA Canada for example.  They are known as HI USA and HI Canada.