Holidays to Europe

www.holidaystoeurope.com.au

1. Tell us about your business

www.HolidaysToEurope.com.au is an online travel company that specialises in European holidays. We list a large range of privately owned accommodation and small group tours to give travellers a wide choice of holiday options. The website also provides loads of information about sightseeing, car hire and rail passes, and handy travel guides. Clients can book online or have our specialist European travel consultants arrange their perfect European holiday via email or phone. We've travelled extensively in Europe and are passionate about helping our clients experience the perfect European holiday.

2. When and why did you start your business?

I started the business in late 2007. I was planning another family holiday to Europe for the following year and was frustrated that there was no Australian website that listed a wide range of Australian-owned accommodation and small tour companies. As we were travelling with children, we didn't want to have to book two hotel rooms everywhere we went - we wanted to stay in self-catering accommodation and cottages, but we also wanted to avoid the language barriers and currency fluctuations that can occur when booking with someone overseas. Putting together a directory of (mostly) Australian and New Zealand owned holiday accommodation, tours, car hire companies, etc in Europe, seemed like the answer so other travellers wouldn't have the same frustrations that I experienced.

3. On a personal level, what have you achieved with your business?

Running my own business has given me the freedom to work from home doing something that I love. I can still be there for the kids but I am also contributing to the family kitty whilst doing something that I love. I have also learnt so much about the internet and business in general since I started the business.

4. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in growing your business?

The biggest challenge is always marketing with a very small budget. We are now starting to get a fair amount of press in the metropolitan newspapers' travel sections and I've had some of my European travel articles published in national and online magazines, which is great. I'm also continually working on search engine optimisation so that the site ranks highly in organic searches. Increasing the traffic numbers to the website and getting more Australian-owned European travel products listed on the site, are our two biggest challenges.

5. What activities have been successful in promoting your business?

For me, persistence is starting to pay off. I regularly keep in touch with the travel media, advising them of special deals that are advertised on the website. I think, because the website is always front of mind to them, when they are featuring stories on Europe they think of www.HolidaysToEurope.com.au. We are also exhibiting at a major European travel expo in Melbourne later this year which I hope will really increase the public's awareness of the website.

6. What activities were less successful for marketing your business?

As an online business, it's hard to know whether some of our off-line marketing has been successful or not as it is very hard to measure.

7. Name your favourite thing about your business

Every day I get to travel to Europe - even though not physically! I'm always adding new European holiday products to the website or helping other Aussies to plan their European trip, which is very satisfying. And I do get to travel to Europe now!

8. Who or what other businesses or business people inspire you?

There are lots of inspiring business people out there particularly women who have been able to develop successful businesses whilst still being the primary carer of their family. All home-based business owners are very inspiring as it is easy to feel isolated and not taken seriously when building your business from home.

9. What are your plans for the future of your business?

Our aim is to continue to increase the amount of Australian-owned holiday properties, tour companies, etc listed on the website so that travellers have the widest range of holiday options to choose from. We also aim to increase our brand awareness so that every Aussie planning a holiday to Europe visits www.HolidaysToEurope.com.au to see what we have to offer.

10. Share your best business tip with our readers.

Be persistent and consistent. It's not going to happen overnight but if you are persistent and consistently provide what the customer wants (whether that be a product, service or information), you have every chance of succeeding.

Visit us at: www.holidaystoeurope.com.au