2018, a pivotal year…
Only when we looked back on the events throughout 2018 did we fully appreciate how pivotal the year has been. When you’re busy with the day-to-day, you don’t fully appreciate the progress that’s being made and before you know it, it’s the end of another whirlwind season and it’s that time of year again where we take time out to reflect.
Just under three years ago In March 2016, we launched Privadia with a clear vision – to become the leading b2b supplier of luxury villas to the ever-growing vacation rental market. We visualised a worldwide network of agency partners, a bespoke tech platform to serve travel agents and owners, expansion into the world’s most exclusive destinations, a qualified team of industry professionals leading the way and a company we could be proud to call our own, showing consistent growth and an aim to become the leading service of our kind.
Fast forward to December 2018 and it’s very humbling to say we’re making excellent progress in all those areas. We have strategically prepared the Privadia model and are now ready for exponential growth.
Our worldwide network
Within the last 12 months, we have more than tripled our partner network, now connecting with even more parts of the world at the same time as strengthening our current markets. We have great relationships in the UK, U.S.A, Canada, Russia, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Middle East and Holland to highlight a few. This has had a huge impact on our overall reach for property owners and we are now attracting an even more diverse clientele of guests from all corners of the world.
Digging deeper
One of the reasons that Privadia stands out as a unique service is down to our handpicked network of niche partners. We take great pride in forming key relationships with small independent companies. This allows us to dig deep when attracting luxury clients. We work with all kinds of partners from concierge managers, niche travel advisors, entertainment companies, football agents and more. Safe to say 2018 has been a roaring success in this department and we’re very excited to see these partnerships flourish even further as we move into 2019’s booking season.
New team members
In our 2017 annual round up we introduced Sarah (known as ‘Sarah K’ to most, as we now have two Sarah’s in the team) as our new Operations Manager and in just short of 12 months she has done a fantastic job, making major progress within our guest experience department. We are very passionate about ensuring that guests have a smooth, simple and hassle-free experience when staying in any of Privadia’s villas and this high-level service can only be maintained by running an extremely tight ship across all areas of the operation.
We have other additions to the team too, Lucinda has joined our reservations and accounts department and has since had a huge impact on the speed at which we can process our bookings and payments. Daniel also came on board in April to head up Business Development (read more about him here) and is currently recruiting a new account management team ready for 2019’s booking season. On the tech side of things, we have made some major moves, queue our new Tech Director Steve.
Steve started out as a contractor and has now become an integral part of our growing team. We have also further expanded this department with our full-time front-end developer, Daniil.
Our new HQ
As part of our official partnership with Lucas Fox which you can read more about here back in April we upped-sticks and moved from our humble abode in Cala Llonga to our new space on the port in Santa Eulalia. It was quite emotional waving goodbye to the office that facilitated the very beginnings of Privadia, but making the move to upgrade and provide a more productive working environment for our team was crucial. We are now very proud of our new base and welcome anyone to drop by and see us if you get the chance!
Technology: Privadia 2.0…
From the very outset, technology has always been an essential part of Privadia’s vision. Our ambitious plans could only be achieved with a scalable, robust and tailored tech platform. Initially starting small back in March 2016 with a basic MVP, 2018 has seen the Privadia platform significantly develop and evolve into an enterprise level system. We are now able to see the true value of the features we have built and we are proud to offer a unique set of tools to both our property owners and our agency partners. “Stay tuned for a dedicated overview of our latest release coming soon”.
Expansion: Mallorca, here we come!
We haven’t been shy in sharing our intention for overseas expansion however, it’s been important to recognise when the timing is right for such a move. The team, our processes, the technology and our ability to grow outside of Ibiza needed to align with confidence before we made the commitment. The good news is that through careful planning, hard work and a few air miles thrown in for good measure, we are there and in January 2019 we expect to open up access to over 40 shortlisted, fully inspected properties.
Why Mallorca?
Privadia is born out of the unique Balearic island, Ibiza. We have Ibiza bones we understand the local ways and we’ve built our business off the back of the challenges that such a small and unique location can bring.
With this in mind, it seems natural to expand slowly but surely, initially taking baby steps across the pond to the largest and most established island in the Balearics. Attracting a wider audience our moves into Mallorca will be the perfect ‘warm-up’ ahead of the other destinations we plan on expanding into in the near future.
Not only that, further to a comprehensive survey with some of our key agency partners Mallorca, just like Ibiza is a tough nut to crack in regards to finding reliable suppliers who can offer the full one stop shop package; a unique selling point that Privadia is recognised for.
Spread across key areas such as Portals, Deia, Andratx, Sóller, Pollenca and Palma, Privadia will soon be recognised as the main go-to company for Mallorca luxury villas as well as Ibiza, spreading our wings as one of the leading suppliers in the Balearics.
Numbers
Our annual roundup wouldn’t be complete without some number crunching and this year has been no different in regards to seeing further growth.
Our average booking value has increased slightly from €20,000 to €21,000. The overall number of bookings have seen a healthy 10% growth, with our highest value booking increasing from €200,000 to €346,000. And promisingly, the value of 2019’s bookings are up on the same period as last year by a staggering 122%.
Thank you
Last but by no means least, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support and ongoing business. We endeavour to provide the best possible service, but what use is that without our customers, suppliers and partners.
We wish you all the very best and hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year.
The Privadia team! X
