Our transformation of YHA’s fortunes leads to shot at award

07/08/2008 - Manchester

The site has driven online revenue performance for YHA and perception of the brand across the board.  It has also boosted financial performance by reducing costs and increasing revenue. 

And it has done so well that YHA have joined another of our clients, Whizz-Kidz, in the shortlist for the Charity Times Awards, in the best use of web category.

We redesigned and re-launched the YHA website in 2007, with the aim of pushing more and more bookings online and reinvigorating the brand.

Year-on-year revenue through the site has increased by a remarkable 97 per cent with the total number of bookings increasing by 83 per cent since the launch of the site in January 2007. 

YHA also set us the target of moving 50 per cent of all its bookings online within the first three years of operation. By the end of the first year that figure already stood at 40 per cent.

This success was recognised when the YHA site was listed by The Times as one of their top 50 travel sites in 2007.

Duncan Simpson, head of communications at YHA, said that ‘we decided to overhaul our website to help promote a more accurate representation of what YHA represents - flexible, quality accommodation, representing great value at excellent locations all over England and Wales.  What we needed to communicate such an attractive offer was an attractive site with greater functionality, and that’s what Reading Room has delivered.”

The Charity Times awards will be awarded at a ceremony to be held on 18 September at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel.