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EF Education First (EF) and Hostelling International (HI) are proud to announce a new global partnership that will serve to further their missions to help young people travel the world, experience new cultures and broaden their horizons.
Both EF and HI have long histories of enhancing world travel for young people. Hostelling
International is the only global network of hostel associations, offering 4,000 hostels in 90 countries worldwide, founded in 1932 and hosting more than 38 million overnights a year. EF is the world’s largest private education company specialized in language travel. With offices in more than 50 countries worldwide, EF has helped over 15 million students learn a new language and travel abroad since the company was founded in 1965.
The partnership, which was kicked off this week at the Global HI CEO Meeting in Lisbon, provides
discounts on EF language courses for HI members worldwide, special deals for HI staff for language training, common promotion of both companies, as well as plans for HI National Associations to work with EF locally around the world. The kickoff is just the beginning of plans for closer relations between the two organizations.
“We have been looking for a partner with the same set of values and mission, and EF is just the right one,” said Mikael Hansson, CEO of Hostelling International. “Our missions are basically the same, namely reaching out to young people of different cultures to educate and broaden their horizons. EF teaches languages and we offer budget accommodation in a social and safe environment. Together we also focus on two very important issues; to encourage youth mobility and to promote sustainable travel.”
“We are very proud to support HI customers and staff with special offers for their language travel
plans,” said Anita Hauser, Partnership Marketing Director at EF. “This will help us to further our
organization’s mission to break down barriers of language, culture and geography.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
