recent movie videos. Have extra blankets, sheets, and pillows. Consider selling T-shirts of your hostel, post cards and a few items for sale. Have a few bicycles around to rent (or a canoe). Buy a few volleyballs, nets. Offer an internet station. And don't forget you might need to add GST and PST to the cost of staying with you. Making of a sign tree Thunder Bay International Hostel So you're ready to open. Get a local reporter to cover the opening. Get out the coffee and tea, the doughnuts and have a dignitary (it could be your mom) cut the ribbon. Go to your local Internet provider for a decent website and a domain name and pick your email address so that you (and others) will remember it. Be palsy with the guide book publishers (especially Rough Guide and Lonely Planet the tops in the business. Hostel owners can tell you that backpackers are more likely to travel from one hostel to another rather than from one city to another. Encourage others to start hostels especially where none presently exist. Other hostels are feeders to yours. Join your local tourist association- these folks are a wealth of information and support. Be a travel writer yourself and be informed about trends in the tourist industry. Hostelling can be fun: the world comes to you and you are the richer for it. Cycling across Canada, Thunder Bay Many hostel owners and operators can attest that hostels are happy, helpful friendly places.