Tragedy and Renewal: 2001 - Present
The tragedy of September 11th shocked the United States of America and the world. Travel dropped sharply and persistent terrorism concerns and the onset of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) continued to depress international travel through 2004.
With dramatically fewer people traveling, hostel overnights and program participation sharply declined, creating temporary but massive financial pressures for HI-USA. Programming was cut back, and some hostels were closed in response to the post September 11th financial realities.
In the face of hardship, volunteers and staff became more resolute about the role of hostelling in global society. In 2002, HI-USA embraced a bold new commitment to broadening cultural exchange and started “Opening Doors, Opening Minds” .
In 2003, the International Youth Hostel Federation formed the “Youth Hostelling for Peace and Understanding” campaign, citing its responsibility to “make our own contributions to intercultural dialogue, and to educate for peace."
At the same time, AYH adopted the name “Hostelling International USA”, publicly declaring both its intent to serve all ages and its status as the sole US affiliate of the International Youth Hostel Federation.
Careful management of organizational resources led HI-USA to regain its financial footing by 2005. In 2006, HI-USA was once again in the position to develop new hostels and offer new programming.
Today in the U.S., there is a network of 75 hostels hosting nearly 1 million overnights annually. Worldwide, there about 4000 hostels recording over 33 million overnights in more than 70 countries.