We began Getaway Earth because we saw a gap in a crowded market for a holiday rental site that sings with the personal touch, helping you to find a holiday home that you'll remember forever (in the best possible sense!). We found that existing holiday rental sites chase mass; they refer to their "inventory of listings" as though each one is a commodity to be marketed. Not at Getaway Earth. We celebrate the personal approach. We only want holiday rental owners who pride themselves on service; who add to their holiday renter's experience with a wealth of local knowledge; who add the little personal touches; who are totally invested in helping the guest find a holiday home to remember.
Our inspiration came from books like Wikinomics [www.wikinomics.com/book], from search experiences like Google and their Google Maps API, and from products like the iPhone. The modern web is service driven. Let's face it, consumers have the choice and the power to walk on by in seconds. So we wanted a site that embraced this need for service. A site that helps potential guests find a holiday rental easily and with confidence. You will therefore find a comprehensive search function on the home page that leads straight to a list of holiday rentals 100% matching your requirements. If none exist we won't fake it and return some irritatingly irrelevant homes. Once you select your home you are then into the world of the holiday rental owner, each page bespoked directly by them with zero interference from us.
We also believe that the holiday rental owner is the best source of local knowledge about restaurants, bars, golf courses, shops and more. We found that competitors had not tapped that knowledge. So we built in the ability for places of interest (POI’s) to be added, allowing the holiday rental owner to advertise not only their property but all the great things to do in the surrounding area. In that way owners create an online information pack that renters can benefit from during the search, helping them find a holiday home to remember.
Alongside a simple search function and POI’s we wanted to try and incorporate some of the other useful internet gadgets. So for holiday rental owners, they can embed a You Tube video of their property, display their Facebook badge, Twitter feed, link to their own website and add unlimited photos (subject to fair use). For holiday renters, unlimited properties can be added to a shortlist, pages can be bookmarked to Facebook and Twitter, there is a weather API, ability to add reviews, and much more.
We move into 2012 with new people on the team who bring a wealth of industry experience and skills. Together we hope to leap into the next phase of our development, which is all about creating awareness and refining what we've built so far. And critically we want to listen to you, our users, who are the ones that make or break us. Please do get in touch to provide us feedback and together we will try to build a site that helps people find a holiday home to remember.
