Hostelworld Breaks Records in Central America, Helped by a New Social Network
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Places like Costa Rica and Panama have long welcomed backpackers, but they now seem to be rushing back to the region after travel restrictions were lifted in 2022.
Online travel agent Hostelworld is seeing demand soar for bookings across Central America, as it reports an uptick in bookings coming through its new app.
Backpacker-favorites like Costa Rica and Panama reached 150 percent of 2019 volumes during 2022, as the rest of the world trails behind. Costa Rica also launched its digital nomad visa in July which may have helped.
The hostel specialist’s top markets of western Europe were roughly back to pre-pandemic numbers, with Oceania and Asia recovered to 79 percent of 2019 levels in December, while long-haul bookings recovered to 76 percent by the year end.
The Central American surge was revealed on Wednesday, as the company reported its preliminary results for the year
