Ali Woolliams Interview
Interview Time: Hostelbookers.com Travel Editor ‐ Ali Woolliams
Marmite or Vegemite?
Can I say neither? I'd have to say Vegemite, having never tried Marmite.
With the dreaded R-word spreading around the world, a lot of people are refusing to give up their holidays but they are saving on accommodation ‐ staying in hostels. What would your tips be for this new breed of backpacker ‐ people staying in a hostel for the first time?
The best advice is just to check what facilities the hostel offers before you book anywhere. There are so many different types of hostel and you can end up with one that's very much like a hotel ‐ if that's what you're looking for. Or you could go for a hostel that's more traditional and backpacker orientated ‐ with a bar and somewhere that's really sociable.
I think if someone isn't used to staying in a hostel then a good idea is to go on a site like ours ‐ where you can read ratings and reviews and get an idea about what a location is really like, before you go.
I'm a big fan of your travel guides online ‐ which pretty much cover every location on earth - well 2,500 anyway! How many travellers were involved in building this and how did you manage to build up such a massive resource?
Well I'm actually working on a new slant on developing this at the minute on our blog ‐ it's a 48 hour guide to cities. Something that's snappy and really easy to read. We started off with London ‐ being the home of Hostelbookers. We've also got help and information from people that we know who've gone travelling recently, so for example a friend from the Rough Guides who went to Berlin.
I don't think there's an awful lot of space in the world for travel guides that have been recycled from Wikipedia, so what we really want is fresh new content. Obviously it's difficult and you need to include at least an overview of a place, so sometimes you end up using Lonely Planet and the Rough Guides as a basis.
There's been a lot noise recently about the government drive in Amsterdam and their ambition to sell the city as more of a cultural getaway and less of a city of sin ‐ stag do ‐ splif smoking ‐ weekend location. Do you think that's a good idea given that so many are drawn there by the famous coffee shop culture and unashamed red light district?
I can completely understand where Amsterdam is coming from. I actually went there last summer and the atmosphere is really just one of backpackers getting stoned and not exploring the city, and there's so much more to see than just the coffee shop next to your hostel.
I think as long as they don't go too far then it will be a positive step for the city and for the destination. I actually went to Leiden after Amsterdam, which is nearby. It's like Amsterdam but without the tourists and it was a much better place to be from my point of view. There are still lots of coffee shops, hostels and bars but it just felt a lot more relaxed and you really got to experience Dutch culture ‐ Dutch beer, Dutch pancakes and so on, without the overall emphasis being on smoking.
When you're stuck in an airport or a train station with time to kill ‐ what top five books would you like with you?- The Rough Guide ‐ To Wherever I'm Going
- Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
- Ethan Frome‐ Edith Wharton
- L'Etranger ‐ Albert Camus
- Down and Out in Paris and London ‐ George Orwell
Some of the most popular travel articles we've put out there have been about festivals ‐ featuring greased up flag poles with a leg of ham on the top at La Tomatina and the Cannabis Cup! What top two international festivals would you say are worth an air fare?
1. Exit Festival in Serbia ‐ they bring in the biggest names from Electronic music and they have 25 stages.
2. St Patrick's Day Parade in New York ‐ no one does parades like America.
In terms of this company ‐ where and when did it all kick off?
Hostelbookers has now been alive for five years and the whole idea of the company is that we are travellers, making a site for other travellers. What we don't want to is create a site that charges travellers over the odds. That's why we don't have booking fees. We just want to give good information, reviews and guides to travellers who are looking for information. Hostelbookers itself was actually founded in a hostel!
And from here on in what exciting travel resources and projects are you working on for 2009?
We're in the process of re-launching our site in Spanish and German, we're looking at improving the guide sections, adding new articles, adding video footage and maybe pod-guides and podcasts, in the different cities. There'll also be my-hostelbookers.com, so people will be able to log in and save their favourite pages.
Twitter or Facebook?
Definitely Facebook.
If you could throw a glass of red wine in the face of any annoying celebrity and get away with it ‐ who would it be?
Danni Minogue. I have an irrational hatred of this woman. Every time I look at her she just makes me angry. I think it's partly due to the fact that her face doesn't move and that she pretends to be so knowledgeable about everything. I mean what has she done apart from being related to someone famous?
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