Al-Ahram Weekly | Living | Young accommodation

Friendly, inexpensive accommodation in an atmosphere conducive to cross-cultural socialisation? As Egyptian Youth Hostels prepare to celebrate their golden jubilee, Mustafa El-Menshawy investigates whether they fit the bill

A tuft of trees and a constant stream of passing traffic provide the backdrop for the Manial Youth Hostel in central Cairo.

In the lobby, Taiwanese, Sudanese, Nigerian and Palestinian guests sit and mingle. "[Coming to the hostel] provided an opportunity for me to make the acquaintance of backpackers from such far afield countries as Australia and Taiwan," says Rabih Ahmad, a Nigerian student, who is in Cairo for a one-month tour.

Young people come to hostels such as these in search of cheap and clean accommodation, as well as friendship, and even sometimes love. Another cross-cultural encounter last December culminated in the marriage of Soliman Ibrahim, an Egyptian translator, to Iman Mohamed, a supervisor in the Palestinian Youth Ministry.

Egypt has 15 hostels, located mainly in tourist hubs such as Alexandria, Sharm Al-Sheikh, Hurghada, Ismailia, Luxor and Aswan. According to Adel Abdel-Aziz, the former head of the Tourist Promotion Authority, youth hostels in Egypt clocked up one million overnight stays by foreign tourists in 2003. And once you are a member of one association registered with the International Youth Hostels Federation (IYHF), you can enjoy the facilities of some 4,000 other hostels run by sister associations across the world.

The mastermind who brought the youth hostel system to Egypt was George Nikola, one of the founders of the Bar Association. As long ago as 1954, it was his efforts which culminated in the creation of the Egyptian Youth Hostel Association (EYHA), an independent non-profit body grouping together all the country's hostels.

The federation will mark its 50th anniversary this year, with ceremonies shedding light on its activities at home and abroad. "Many public figures will show up for a marathon to be organised by the EYHA later in September," said Medhat Salem, the federation's public relations officer.

Officials boast that membership figures are on the rise -- they hit 30,000 this year -- and that the charges of financial corruption that have plagued the reputation of the EYHA for many years have been seriously addressed. Previously, the local press had relayed countless reports of improprieties, alleging diversion of funds to the tune of LE17 million in the year 2000 alone.

Despite these improvements, though, both members and critics still say the country's hostels themselves are far from ideal. Members interviewed at the Manial hostel, all in their 20s, complained about neglect of the facilities and too-modest standards of accommodation.

Other non-Arabic speaking guests regretted that the only television -- situated in the lounge -- was always playing in Arabic. Foreigners also griped about the fact that unmarried couples are not allowed to share rooms.

Walking through the hostel, one cannot help but feel that one is in a three-star establishment, at best. Some say, however, that the situation is significantly better in the hostels which are located in coastal cities such as Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

According to Arab Youth Hostel Union President Rashad Abdu, Egyptian hostels have a long way to go towards eliminating bureaucracy, getting better organised and improving marketing techniques. Abdu said that while Israel had 37 hostels, Libya 32, Saudi Arabia 25, and Germany a colossal 680, all with five-star services, only three Egyptian hostels -- the ones in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Cairo -- meet the standards required to appear on the IYHF's international list.

Twenty-four-year-old Ahmed Sami said that although he is a card-carrying member of the hostel association, he has only used their facilities once. He complained that many hostels -- like the one in Hurghada -- are too far away from the city centre. "[And some] famous resorts like Dahab have no hostel at all," he lamented.

Hoda Zakaria, who has been an EYHA member for over 20 years, suggested that the association could best mark its anniversary celebrations by recognising that hostelling means more than a clean, comfortable bed. A professor of political sociology, Zakaria added, "The hostel system is desperately in need of a simple yet effective vision; one that would better harness young people's energy and create a feeling of collective conscience via lectures and workshops on the political and social problems facing Egypt." She recalls how, in the 1960s and 1970s, hostels were much more active, and had strong backing from officials and civil society.

Today, the government's contribution to the association's coffers is minuscule, amounting to less than LE30,000 per year. Cultural activities and cultural exchange programmes are rarely organised.

Human rights activist Hisham Qassem, the head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, who witnessed first-hand the 1960s heyday of youth hostelling in Egypt, said the decision to limit the hostels' social role must have been deliberate: "As a part of civil society, hostels bear the brunt of today's political barrenness and lack of participatory governance." He added that in the light of the continued marginalisation of the country's youth via rising unemployment, cronyism and other factors, it would be wise to reactivate organisations such as the Youth Hostel Association, to help combat the consequences, citing, "Extremism, drug addiction and violence, to name but a few".

THE SHARM EL-SHEIKH hostel was chosen by the International Youth Hostels Federation as one of two Middle East hostels designated as world peace and international understanding centres. Selected as part of the Youth Hostelling for Peace and International Understanding Campaign organised by UNESCO, Sharm El-Sheikh hostel will thus be able to play host to a number of international events.

In a phone interview from the group's London headquarters, IYHF's Hartmut Finke told Al-Ahram Weekly that, "In very general terms, young people, being the future of this planet, need to develop a better understanding when dealing with different cultures, and this message can be reinforced through hostelling."

This campaign was launched after the 11 September attacks on the United States, to bring peoples closer and end common misconceptions. IYHF is one of the world's largest international membership organisations for youth, with some three million members.

		16 - 22 September 2004 Issue No. 708 Living	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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