Who we are
a&o, Europe’s leading hostel operator, founded a&o educare e. V. in 2022 – on the initiative of CEO Oliver Winter and with the support of Ralf Olk.
This means that the a&o company is complemented by a structure – recognised as a charitable organisation – which undertakes a wide variety of charitable projects and activities. The chairman of a&o educare e. V. is Ralf Olk.
a&o was founded in 2000 by Oliver Winter and operates more than 40 hostels with almost 30,000 beds. The most recent new openings are the a&o Brighton Palace Pier and the a&o hostels in Brussels and Florence. The Berlin-based budget group has a presence in 28 cities and ten European countries.
Professionalism, easily accessible, central locations and a welcoming atmosphere for everyone are the hallmarks of all a&o hostels. This makes a&o hostels particularly attractive to price-conscious young travellers and families. The a&o Group continues to grow in exciting European tourist destinations.
The a&o guest mix is diverse: backpackers, solo travellers, families, school groups and clubs all form part of the a&o target audience.
In all this, a&o pursues a well-founded sustainability strategy and has, amongst other things, significantly reduced its CO₂ emissions per overnight stay in recent years. More information on this >> here
Our motivation
Making the world a little bit better – that is our aim! ESD – Education for Sustainable Development, based on the "17 Goals", the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals – plays a central role in this.
Together, we also give something back – to the people who work at a&o, to our guests and to our cities.
Press and public relations
We want more people to find out about our projects and the sustainability strategy of a&o Hostels.
We welcome every bit of interest – and:
imitation is expressly encouraged!
Projects in action
Many exciting projects of a&o educare e. V. are under way, and some have already been completed.
Starting with the "ESD elements" (Education for Sustainable Development) in many a&o Hostels, the "1st a&o insect hostel" as a pilot project in Frankfurt and, currently, the development of a web app for the "solidarity-based, community-funded financing of school trips". The first "a&o Christmas Wish Tree campaign", in cooperation with SOS Children's Village Berlin, is also starting just in time for Christmas.
There's always something going on!
There is a lot happening at a&o, including on the many topics a&o educare e. V. is involved in – with stories, experiences and insights from our staff and guests.