Latest Laois Business: Laois Entrepreneur’s New European Travel Club off to a flyer
European Travel Club founded by Michael Fitzpatrick making big impact across travel sector
A brand-new exclusive European Travel Club, set up by a Co. Laois Entrepreneur is already making a big impact on the travel scene.
‘The Fitz Review’ is an exclusive European travel club and review blog site, launched by Michael Fitzpatrick who runs the luxury holiday rental, ‘Fitz of Inch’ in Stradbally.
‘The Fitz Review’ is a specialist service providing members with comprehensive information on holiday rentals, exclusive discounts, hotel and guest house accommodation and blog reviews, travel tips, and travel consultation services.
Though just launched following an intensive year of research and traveling, ‘The Fitz Review’ has got off to a flying start with a significant number of members across Ireland and Europe.
Michael, who has worked in some of the finest 5-Star properties in Ireland and abroad, says, “I saw a gap in the market for an exclusive travel club for Irish and European properties and decided to pair my love of travel with my experience of the hospitality industry. I have worked all my life in hospitality, I grew up with it, and I have been privileged to be able to travel to some fabulous places. I want to help properties that are not always on the big stage but actually deserve to be, and our members love some of the quirky and unique places we work with.”
Michael believes the success ‘The Fitz Review’ is enjoying so far is down to a few factors, the most important being the fact that it’s a ‘one stop shop’ for holiday makers at a reasonable cost, with verifiable expert travel recommendations.
“Our travel club membership rate is very reasonable at just €5 per month or €25 for six months, and we have a number of property affiliation memberships available for properties looking to get involved in our community.”
“I have put together a team of passionate and seasoned travellers who visit all the properties we have on our site. They all visit ‘incognito’ and give objective and honest reviews. We have so many places yet to discover and we’re excited to launch new blog reviews every month. This is absolutely crucial and naturally builds trust with our members and indeed our affiliate properties.”
“Once the properties are reviewed, we then establish a partnership with select properties. This allows us to offer our members discounted stays, complimentary upgrades, and other treats and perks. It’s all about offering real value at beautiful holiday rentals, hotels, and boutique guest houses throughout Ireland and Europe that have received authentic reviews.”
He says, “The way people are traveling has changed and is changing. More and more people see traveling as an essential part of their lifestyle. They want ‘experiences’, they want to explore, but they want the security of knowing they are booking places that are reputable and good quality. They may want to travel less but ‘better’, and that means staying in hand-picked places that have a variety of facilities and amenities to appeal to discerning guests. If the last few years have shown us anything, it’s that life is short, things can change rapidly, and the world can become quite small, so people are taking the opportunity to travel both at home and abroad while they can.”
“Another huge market is that of the solo traveller; there is a huge rise in the number of people choosing to travel on their own, and they value the service we provide.”
“We will be expanding too as time goes on and offering reviews on niche properties, those that perhaps have sustainability at their core, maybe they’re dog-friendly or are very historic properties in a bid to offer more and more choice to our members.”
“People can even make an impact on the Fitz Review Travel Club themselves as they can share places they have stayed and recommend that we go and visit to review for ourselves. It’s all about spreading the news about excellent holiday accommodation options that we can actually stand over”.
“Also, we’ll be doing regular travel tips and hints for the associated cities and areas the properties are located in so as to give our members ‘the full package’, so to speak.”
“The Fitz Review is a win-win situation for both our members and our property affiliates as both will benefit. Our members get the benefit of our experience, discounts in our affiliated properties and full-service reviews and the properties have a new platform to showcase their offerings with a number of affiliation perks.”
“Travel is one of life’s joys; people work hard, and travel is balm for the soul in this frenetic world. It’s the little things that make a stay memorable and special. Things like staff mentioning your name, remembering if you prefer tea to coffee, for example, asking how your day was in a genuine way. It’s the attention to detail that makes stays memorable for all the right reasons, and we’ll be sharing all that information with our members.”
Michael says that he has had a few ‘Fawlty Towers’ experiences too while travelling but is sanguine about this, saying they’re all part of the rich tapestry that travelling offers.
“Those experiences have actually helped enormously as they were memorable for all the wrong reasons and really that is the beauty of the The Fitz Review—we’ll try and ensure that people have the happiest travel experiences no unpleasant surprises”.
Let the journey begin!