Corporate Development

Revenue

Revenue of approximately €117 million in 2017 with around 24,000 beds and more than 4.1 million overnight stays.

Concept

Everyone can travel with a&o! The budget brand a&o always provides hotel accommodation at central locations that are easy to reach and offer unbeatable value for money to guests. a&o focuses on a wide range of en-suite room categories to ensure that target groups with a love of travel can all be accommodated under one roof, including single travellers, couples, families and large groups. a&o has a simple motto: Every guest gets exactly what they need without unnecessary frills. The boundary between hostel and hotel is directly intertwined in the a&Oo establishments, providing accommodation for any budget.

Special services for guests

• a&o offers free, dependable WiFi
• Children under 7 can sleep free of charge in bunk beds in the family room of their parents or grandparents
• Bespoke loyalty programmes for various target groups, e.g. Regular Customer Cards or Trainer Cards

Permanent development of the product:

• Brand relaunch in late autumn 2017
• Plans for mobile check-in
• Plans for smartphone room keys
• Plans for laptop docking stations and single work spaces in the lobby

Guests and reasons for travel:

• Leisure/city tourism (40 percent)
• Group/school trips (37 percent; around 19,600 school and group trips per year)
• Families (15 percent)
• Business trips (8 percent)

a&o is particularly strong in direct sales and online marketing

• 52 percent of guests book their accommodation online
• aohostels.com is the strongest booking channel
• Best price guarantee for direct bookings via aohostels.com
• Group bookings are possible in real time and without restrictions
• Group payment options without a single person footing the bill up front

Careers

a&o has its own academy and a dual degree course programme to offer its staff a range of attractive career options. The company is particularly open to taking on newcomers.

Certifications

• 5-star QMJ certification for all a&o establishments
• Enterprise-wide TÜV certification according to the Youth Hostel Quality Standard
• Youth travel quality seal by Reisenetz Youth Travel in Germany
• TREUGAST Solutions Group double-A rating awarded to the a&o Group for the third year running

Sustainability

a&o has defined three pillars of sustainability. They are the central components of the company's strategic focus and operative business:

Economic sustainability

a&o uses its own resources to grow. Profits are channelled straight back into the company to open up new establishments, create jobs and modernise the current portfolio. Here, a&o continues to focus on stable growth in European city tourism and has introduced uniform standards in the areas of environmental compatibility, cooperation, customer feedback among others.

Environmental sustainability

The initiatives that a&o has introduced in all establishments include the introduction of energy and water-saving products, efficient cleaning, reduction in waste volumes and the removal of unnecessary paper and plastic advertising from all rooms. What's more, guests are invited to exchange their reading materials for second hand books in the Book Swap Libraries in the lobbies. The bike rental service in many hotels and the close proximity to public transport systems also ensure a low carbon footprint. a&o was the first German hotel chain to complete a CO2 emission check: The average carbon footprint at a&o is 8.8 kg of CO2 per overnight stay. Efficient use of space in the establishments and other factors keep the footprint three times lower than those otherwise recorded at two to three-star hotels.

Social sustainability

An important element in the a&o corporate philosophy is to promote the interests of its staff. The company's steady growth means that a&o can offer a position to almost all of its apprentices and continue to invest in their training after graduation. In addition, a&o has a profit-sharing scheme and is the only hostel chain to run its own academy.

Sponsoring

a&o is a committed sponsor of sport and education, including:

• SOS Children's Villages (since 2004)
• Youth Sports Department at 1 FC Union Berlin (since 2010)
• Youth Sports Department at SK Sturm Graz (since 2014)
• The "Energiesparmeister" energy-saving competition
• "Bundes-Schülerfirmen" student company contest
• "Berliner Klima Schulen" climate change competition
• SOS Children's Village Occupational Training Centre Berlin Moabit