Conference explores importance of user generated content (UGC).

During the fourth annual Hostel conference delegates heard from a number of experts, hostel owners and the people really in the know – the backpackers themselves.

At an interactive youth panel hosted by Quinn Stainfield-Bruce from the Youth Conspiracy, backpackers from around the world talked about their reliance on customer reviews and their move away from guidebooks. 23 year old Irishman, Eoin White, explained "By the time you buy a guidebook it's already a year out of date, at least with online reviews you get an up-to-the minute report on what a hostel or destination is really like"

This years' event had the highest attendance ever with more than 350 hostel owners and managers from across the world attending. Conference attendees embraced with gusto the theme of the 2008 conference "Engaging the online customer-the social web and you".

Day one of the conference focused on the highly topical subject of social networking and User Generated Content (UGC) - how to engage with consumers through blogs and social networks, the importance of UGC in today's travel 2.0 world and the opportunities and challenges of customer reviews.

Key speakers included Shenda Loughnane, MD of ICAN who discussed the changes in how the youth of today, otherwise known as "digital natives", consume media and Amy Scarth, Head of Research at Eye for Travel who talked about the importance of monitoring your online reputation.

Day two honed in on revenue management and delegates heard from Goran Skugge from Pricegain.com on the principles and usefulness of yield management practices. Later on Jim McMahon, COO of Revaero concentrated on the opportunities available with ancillary revenue, specifically focusing on how successful it has been with low cost airlines and how that can be translated across to the low cost accommodation sector.

Speaking after the conference Hostelworld.com's Chief Marketing Officer Niamh Ni Mhir said "This has been our most successful event to date. The hostelling industry seems to be ahead of traditional airline and hotel businesses in terms of embracing user generated content. This is no surprise as our market, the youth and independent travelers, have grown up online and automatically turn to their peers on the web for travel information and advice."

The importance of user generated content to the hostelling community was further demonstrated at the Hostelworld.com Hoscar Awards Ceremony which was held on Monday 28th January. The awards recognized the world top 10 hostels, as rated by over 600,000 Hostelworld.com users worldwide. Krakow's Flamingo Hostel took this year's top honour when it was named as the world's best hostel.

Irish-based travel website Hostelworld.com hosted the conference on the 28th & 29th January in the Hilton Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.