Our Mission
Our mission is to enable and promote travel,tourism, adventure spirit,national integration and Education & Health by providing hostels of good standards to millions of youth of limited means during their travel at affordable rates on a sustainable basis and by organizing adventure and educational events and to develop understanding among youth about social & development issues.
Vision
To become a centre of safe, affordable and clean accommodation for young people during their travel, to enourage youth travelling in India and education & understanding through personal experience.
Worldwide
The Youth Hostel Movement is the brainchild of an eminent German school teacher, Mr. Richard Schirrmann, the founder of the Youth Hostel Movement.He set up the first Youth Hostel in 1912 in Altenia, Germany, in his own school building so as to provide convenient accommodation to students involved in hiking activities. The Youth Hostel movement started growing up and as a consequence, the Youth Hostels Association was formed in Germany in 1919. The inauguration of the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) was an outcome of the first International Youth Hostel Federation Conference held in Amsterdam in 1932. With this, the YH Movement gained momentum and more Youth Hostels were established in Europe with hygienic and sanitary conditions.
In India
The Youth Hostel Movement had found its way into India before the partition of the country in 1947. The idea was introduced in the early forties by the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of India, Punjab Circle, after that the first Youth Hostel was formally opened at Tara Devi near Shimla on June 9’ 1945, inaugurated by Sir Bertrand Glancy, Chief Scout and Governor of the Punjab.
In 1949, some enthusiasts in Mysore set up a Committee to promote the movement in India.Three years later the Indian Association received the Associate membership of the International Youth Hostel Federation. The first National Conference of the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI) was held in 1956 in Delhi which marked the establishment of the movement on a National level, that received encouragement and appreciation from Late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India.
On 5th Oct., 1970, National Youth Hostel Trust was created through a Resolution passed by the National Council of YHAI, a day earlier.As a result, a 120-bed Youth Hostel complex in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, inaugurated by the former President of India, Shri Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. A Training Centre equipped with audiovisual aids and a Recreation Centre with indoor games and library facilities was inaugurated in 1992, by Mr. John Bourke, the first Vice President- IYHF.Since then, the Training Centre has been approved by IYHF for training of the international participants
He Plan for constructing youth hostels by YHAI was taken up and the first Youth Hostel built with its own resources on a donated piece of land, was a small 35-bed youth hostel at Jagjit Nagar near Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, India.An international camp of volunteers helped to construct its foundation. Gopalpur-on-Sea, Ganjam, Orissa was the next Youth Hostel, built by YHAI in 1961.YHAI initiated conducting the adventure activity programs on the National Level in 1970, with the Solang Nallah Trek in Manali, Himachal Pradesh.
Founder Committee of YHAI
- Prof W C Eagleton : Chairman
- Rev.Fr.Floury
- Dr H L Haryappa
- SH.O K Nambiar
- SH. M E Bhatt
- SH.R G Padki : National Secretary
- SH.Krishna Lyengar
- SH.Prof.H R Abdul Mazeed
- SH.M Yamunacharya
- SH.T Krishna Murthy
- Prof V L D'Souza
- SH.C Rangacharya
- SH.F J Narocha
- SH.N Bhadriah
Youth Hosteling as a movement has not taken long to establish in the world. During the course of the last almost eighty years, it has spread from country to country and spanned all the five continents.
The movement is based on two basic urges in the youth – love for the unknown, which includes desire for adventure and the desire to make friends.
Since the movement started in Germany in the second decade of last century, there was very little opportunity for young people of limited means to travel at will and see and enjoy the beautiful places in their own country and the world around. The virtues of travel have been acknowledged in all ages and in all climes. Its hazards and uncertainties and costs used to be too great to allow the common youth to get as much benefit from it as was desired.
The development of the means of communication and the establishment of youth hostels in more beautiful and attractive spots in many countries has made the opportunity of travel at a nominal cost far more easily available for youth.
YHAI is an associate member of the Hosteling International, U.K., earlier known as the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), a premier international NGO promoting the Youth Hosteling movement, with a widespread network in 90 countries worldwide with more than 4000 unique hostels.
We believe in the saying- Wandering, one gathers Honey- it drives our thought process and actions, as we tend to spread the sense of learning and gathering knowledge by gaining real experiences with the world, its people, and the nature.
Since we also serve the broad concept of spreading Peace and International Understanding among various cultures worldwide, and, generating environment awareness and care for the nature, we organize and conduct several activities as- Trekking, Mountaineering, Nature Study, Family Camping, Sailing, to name a few.
Besides participating in our activities, members are also benefited by attractive discounts they get through the membership card, not only this, they are entitled to avail the facilities of the International Youth Hostels, spread in 90 countries around the globe and can minimize their travel budget.
