Hostelworld, the hostel-booking group that targets millennial and Gen-Z backpackers, said the war in the Gulf shaved around 3 per cent off its transaction volume growth in the first half of the year.

Still, in interim results published this morning, the Dublin-headquartered company reported a 12 per cent increase in revenue to €52.2 million, compared with the same period last year.

Hostelworld said this was driven primarily by Elevate, its marketplace monetisation tool, which allows participating hostels to charge larger fees to have their property listed higher in search results on the platform.

The group increased the commission rate it charges hostels for the service to 17.7 per cent in the first half of 2026, from 15.8 per cent last year.

RM Block

Irish Life payments to owner near €2bn and would buy from a CAB auction?

---

Is it discriminatory to only pay maternity top-ups after a certain period of service?

---

The news learned to follow us everywhere. No wonder we are hiding from it

---

ICG bid puts spotlight on McGuckian’s independence

---

“This has more than offset the impact of a weaker US dollar,” said chief executive Gary Morrison in a statement.

Hostelworld confirmed that net transactions grew by 1 per cent to 3.8 million in the first half, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance for low-double-digit revenue growth in 2026.

However, it said that the US-Israeli war with Iran had held transaction volume growth back by 3 per cent.

More to follow ...