Hostelworld Group PLC on Tuesday said it has seen a ‘strong recovery’ back to pre-pandemic levels, as June bookings to southern Europe exceed 2019 levels.

The Dublin-based online booking platform said that June bookings reached 80% of June 2019 levels, leading to revenue just above pre-pandemic levels. Hostelworld explained that the revenue recovery driven by higher average booking values.

Hostelworld noted a continued recovery in all destinations and demand segments, with booking demand in southern Europe exceeding levels seen before the pandemic. Long haul flights also reached 75% of 2019 levels, with trips from the US and Canada into European destinations above pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the company said that booking momentum to Oceania and Asian destinations is ‘slowly’ recovering from a very low level in January to 43% of 2019 levels in June.

Hostelworld also said that it is continuing to progress its sustainability agenda, by working in partnership with South Pole towards climate neutral accreditation and with its hostel partners to advance the ‘sustainability advantages’ of hostel accommodation.

Chief Executive Gary Morrison said: ‘I am encouraged by the positive indicators we report today across all of our key market segments which demonstrate the ability of our business model to capture pent-up customer demand as the travel market returns.

‘Despite macro-economic uncertainties and recent disruption to airline schedules, I am very confident that we are well positioned to continue to capitalise on the travel recovery as we enter our key seasonal summer trading period,’ Morrison added.

Shares in the company were up 2.1% to 93.90 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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