Hangout on Holiday, the brainchild of Stanyer supported by his business partner David Henderson, allows customers to chat directly with their rep ahead of and during travel. It also includes videos "allowing customers to experience their resort before they leave home".
The app, which Hangout on Holiday says has seen buy-in from Olympic Holidays, Party Hard Travel and Infinity Weekends, will allow reps to have direct contact with guests across multiple resorts at one time, with travellers able to book their excursions and events 24/7 – “rather than relying on when reps are in their hotel”.
Stanyer said: “Hangout on Holiday presents an exciting opportunity for operators looking to optimise their customer experience and gain a share of in-resort spend.
“Operators can save on costs by reducing headcount, but their trip and event programme is on sale through the in-app booking platform.
“They can choose from their own excursion inventory or tap into ours.
“In a world where live chat is the norm, there really is no requirement for reps to waste their time sitting in hotel receptions whilst their guests are on the beach.”
He continued: “Already we’ve had great feedback from guests who have used the app, while reps are enjoying being able to use the broadcast feature communicating to all guests things to do each day.
“We’ve also seen fellow travellers sharing information on the best places to go – it’s brilliant real-time advice at a time when instant information is king.”
Stanyer added the company was also in the process of setting up its own independent reps service across the Med for smaller operators to tap into.
“We’ve assembled a talented and vastly experienced management team who are all ex reps,” he said.
Jacky Bedlow will assume the role of financial director, while Sam Lupson joins as overseas director.
“We look forward to an exciting future and have many more plans to make this service even more compelling in the future,” concluded Stanyer.
