Like the travel industry as a whole, the hospitality sector is moving towards more sustainable and technological offerings.  A&O Hostels, an innovative company that combines hotels and hostels under one roof, comes to Bit Milano to share its vision.

A&O Hostels offer convenient and strategically located accommodation in 25 European cities, with a range of room types to suit all needs and budgets. The comprehensive range of accommodation - from multi-bedded dormitories to private rooms and family solutions - is designed to meet the needs of everyone from backpackers to business travellers and family holidays.

Another feature of the offer is its strong focus on sustainability: With a consumption of 3.73 kg CO2 per night (https://www.aohostels.com/en/green/), and thus 75% less output than other hotels, A&O Hostels now ranks as the greenest hostel chain in Europe. The reuse of recycled materials, water-saving measures, ad hoc waste management, the use of biodegradable detergents, the offer of vegetarian and vegan dishes to reduce meat consumption, the in-house cultivation of spices in special greenhouses and the use of 100% renewable energy are all factors that characterise the company's green proposal. "We want to be a pioneer in the hostel industry and make sustainability a priority, " says Petra Legovic, press officer for A&O Hostels, with the aim of achieving net zero by 2025, minimising the carbon footprint and offsetting the rest. Together, “we want to bring innovation in digital and AI” to make the user experience at facilities even easier.

"In addition to being the first hostel chain in Europe to have a facility, the Venezia Mestre hostel, with the highest sustainability certification by the GreenSign Institute," other points of excellence of A&O Hostels include "also the excellent value for money, so much so that our motto is Everyone can travel. We want to give travellers the opportunity to stay cheaply in comfortable, cosy, centrally located and well-connected facilities".

In line with new trends in tourism, A&O Hostels responds to the needs of the modern traveller. "We are seeing a deseasonalisation of travel, i.e. a preference to travel out of season, at times when there are fewer people and prices are more affordable," comments Petra Legovic. Furthermore, “We've also seen a return to booking well in advance, compared to the last-minute choices of a year ago, and then there is the tendency to choose regenerative travel that helps to improve the socio-environmental conditions of the place you are visiting".

This is why A&O Hostels is taking part in BIT24 for the first time, in order to keep abreast of the latest trends in the sector: "To make the chain even better known, to strengthen and expand the network of partners and to promote the forthcoming opening of the second Italian hostel, which will open in Florence in mid-2024”.