Business
Launch of strategic partnership with Zostel
Safestay plc has announced a strategic marketing partnership with Zostel, India's largest hostel network, which will integrate 82 Zostel hostels onto Safestay.com and 24 Safestay hostels onto Zostel.com, creating an alliance of over 8,000 beds across Europe, the UK, and India. This collaboration aims to capture the growing demand from Indian travelers to Europe, which saw a 17% year-on-year increase in 2025, and to broaden Safestay's international reach through a capital-light model. The partnership includes a jointly agreed framework of service standards and shared values, with a full rollout expected by June, and plans for a joint customer loyalty program in the medium term. Disclaimer*
About this update from Safestay Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nRNS REACH\n \nSafestay plc\n(\"Safestay\", the \"Company\" or the \"Group\")\n \nSafestay launches strategic partnership with Zostel, India's largest hostel network\n \nInnovative marketing partnership model broadens the range of trusted hostels across Europe, the UK and India available to both Safestay and Zostel customers \n \n12 May 2026 - Safestay, one of Europe's largest hostel groups, today announces a strategic marketing partnership with Zostel, India's largest hostel network.\n \nWhilst both brands will remain fully independent, under the agreement, 82 Zostel hostels will feature on Safestay.com and 24 Safestay hostels will be listed on Zostel.com, creating a hostel alliance spanning more than 8,000 beds across Europe, the UK and India.\n \nThe partnership comes as travel from India into Europe grew by 17% year-on-year in 2025, underlining the opportunity for hostel operators to capture demand from travellers planning multi-stop trips across Europe and the UK.[1]\n \nThe agreement reflects Safestay's strategy to expand its international reach and broaden its proposition to customers who want trusted, safe, great value hostel experiences. The partnership is also designed to capture growing demand from travellers increasingly combining Europe and India in a single trip, while creating stronger cross-referral opportunities and a potential route to more direct bookings over time. Safestay and Zostel also plan to develop a joint customer loyalty programme over the medium term.\n \nThe partnership is underpinned by a jointly agreed framework of minimum service standards and shared values, including guest safety and security, in-room standards and guest support, fire safety, equality policies, safeguarding and data protection.\n \nInitial trial locations, including Safestay Pisa Centrale on Zostel's website and Safestay Goa Morjim by Zostel on Safestay's website, have been completed successfully. Around 20 hostels are expected to go live in the first phase within the next week, with additional properties then being added to both companies' websites in phases over the coming months. The full rollout is expected to be completed by June.\n \nLarry Lipman, Chairman at Safestay, commented:\n \n\"This partnership with Zostel represents an exciting strategic ...