“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”, quoted Andre Gide, a French author. Undoubtedly, the first step you take on your first big adventure is the toughest. Yet, the journey might unfold into a beautiful experience when you don’t let your doubts convince you and also you might end up having bountiful experiences of such sorts. Despite a hoard of travellers and backpackers around the world, only a few of them take a leap of faith and make a difference towards their passion. One such ardent traveller and young entrepreneur is Pranav Dangi (Founder, The Hosteller), a well-experienced and self-taught doyen in the field of travel & tourism (backpacking sector) in India.
Since childhood, Pranav showcased a lot of inquisitiveness towards travelling. Having been to regular vacations and summer camps with parents while also spending weeks altogether at relatives’ houses, he developed a deep-rooted love for travel at an early age. Pranav adds, “Hailing from a small town and the need to move out of my hometown to a different place to pursue my career made me a hosteller for life! Over the years, as the desire to travel grew immensely, the idea of just backpacking and living off minimally fascinated me”. Today, Pranav stands out in the travel & tourism industry of India with not just his beautiful creations – a few beautiful backpacker hostels across the country, but also the wonderful memories from travelling to 32 countries and staying at over 100 hostels.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Wondering what exactly kindled the right nerve in Pranav to become an entrepreneur? While he and his friends were in Geneva, they wanted to take a train to another town, however, all the trains got cancelled due to bad weather leaving them with the only option of staying back for the night. Pranav recollects, “Since staying in a good hotel was a dream for us all who were backpackers, we decided to follow a stranger’s suggestion to look for hostels in Europe and luckily found one very close to the train station for under 10 Euros”. To their surprise, Pranav and his friends found the place amazing, super clean and lively with travellers from all over the world. After having a hearty breakfast at the hostel in the next morning, they went for a city tour and hopped onto the evening train as planned taking back multiple life-changing experiences. That was when Pranav came-up with the idea of incepting The Hosteller!
The Backbones
Pranav and his team of young, smart and passionate travellers at The Hosteller adhere to the only agenda of making a traveller’s journey seamless through their work. Right from choosing the right location and property and transforming it into a concept hostel till operating it under the brand for perpetuity, every journey the team undertakes is well-defined and managed. Trained under a rigorous, 3-week long program, this team ensures to achieve the best of accommodation, F&B, and experiences at each hostel. Briefly, the core leadership team at The Hosteller is fabricated into multiple departments including Supply or BD, Transformation, Operations, Sales and Marketing, while the other departments work in synergy with these.
About The Hosteller
Speaking about the one-of-a-kind travel brand, The Hosteller’s core vision is to create social accommodation spaces all around the world coupled with experiential activities to make every traveller feel fulfilled. Pranav explains, “The idea that drives us is a constant urge to provide our travellers with unique & unheard locations, properties and experiences. We aim to be a local guide for travellers coming to our hostels and recommend activities that are tailormade in its own sense for a completely authentic experience”.
In a nutshell, The Hosteller silhouettes with the USPs – operational model for high-quality delivery assurance, offbeat locations & unique real estate infrastructures, standardised services across multiple locations, single funnel hiring & training program especially hospitality SOPs, affordable prices starting at Rs.500 per night, design standardisation, and an experienced & self-driven team.
By the end of 2024, Pranav and his team envision establishing hostels comprising 10,000 beds across 250 locations (pan India as well as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Vietnam & other neighbouring countries). Pranav concludes, “We aim of becoming the world’s biggest self-operated backpacker hostel chain by focusing on creating the best offerings, turning into a one-stop-shop for everything a traveller might need, and developing in-house technology products for enhanced operational efficiencies, CRM and overall revenues per customer”.
