Steyr: the future of youth hostels under scrutiny

The problem is well known, the misery has been dragged on for years: As early as the summer of 2009, the control office of the magistrate found in a test report that the city’s youth hostel on the Ennsleite was only 12.26 percent occupied in the previous year, which means an overall minus of almost 140,000 euros. With four employees during the day, the city’s youth hostel employed more staff than comparable facilities in Wels, Krems or Wiener Neustadt, the control office justified the additional costs at the time.

Of the quarters for young people used for comparison purposes, only the cyclist youth hostel in Krems still exists today, the others had long since closed. What the state audit office advised last year after a financial audit of the city of Steyr: “The city should completely stop operating the Ennsleite youth hostel”, the auditors left nothing lacking in clarity in their report.

In Steyr, the recommendation was not heeded, they continued. The 86 beds in 15 rooms in a block of flats owned by the GWG cooperative were reduced to 47 beds in eight bedrooms and one double room. However, no more young travelers and tourists checked in at the reception. “The furnishings are neat, but with showers and toilets in the corridor, the hostel no longer meets the minimum standard that is required in tourism,” says tourism director Eva Pötzl. Last year the youth hostel booked 1999 overnight stays, which doesn’t make the herb fat. The Red Cross, which last year allocated 30 women and children who had fled the Ukraine to be accommodated in the youth hostel by the municipality, brought better occupancy rates. The bottom line was that at the end of the year there was a loss of business, which had always ranged between 80,000 and 90,000 euros in previous years.

The city cannot write the shortfall that it has to cover every year from the budget in the flue, Mayor Markus Vogl (SP) now said. In the course of the necessary budget consolidation, all areas are being scoured – in order to stabilize the city’s budget course, twelve million euros have to be cut from the budget every year. “The youth hostel is of course also on the list,” says Katrin Auer (SP), the city councilor for culture who is responsible for the guest house. The future prospects of the youth hostel, including the option of closing it, are now to be discussed both in municipal departments and in a cross-party working group.

Decision by July

There are also “some project ideas and interesting suggestions” to continue the youth hostel in a sustainable form, for which the city would have to invest again in the building. Auer emphasizes that this new use cannot be a burden for the city as it was before. Otherwise, Steyr would also have to say goodbye to its youth hostel as one of the last cities. A decision as to whether the facility will be closed must be made by July. Then the city’s medium-term financial plan must be in place.