“Its often overlooked how the people you meet impacts the satisfacation of your vacation,” suggests Vacation Relation’s co-founder Peter Sullivan. The site was inspired after his failed attempt to find and communicate with people before a family cruise. “Of course I added people I met to my Facebook account after the trip; but there were many social opportunities I missed from the start or even completely.”
Vacations consist of a specific destination and time frame, which offer the perfect common ground for discussion. The site transforms users’ virtual conversations -- based on shared interests -- into real life conversations before their trip. Even if people aren’t inclined to actually meet up, the service offers the ability to plan vacations around social aspects. It can be anything from discovering a hotel fit for your age group, finding great surf spots, sharing a taxi, or asking others for suggestions. Vacation Relation does not want to be confused with a dating site, however it leaves all possibilities for the users to explore. “The site will ultimately revolutionize the way we look at travel planning in a time when social applications are on the rise” says co- founder David Los. Many sites allow you to publish content to your Facebook wall, but your friends don’t seem to care. The people who are really excited about your upcoming vacation are the others going, the ones who are in the same research mode.
Unlike conventional travel communities, the site focuses on connecting vacationers through the use of their existing social media accounts. “Why try and recreate the wheel? People are comfortable with sites like Facebook and are reluctant to communicate through a whole new channel,” says Sullivan. The site works in a really unique way. By connecting through Facebook, the site promotes exploration through social demographics and ensures all communication is done using your existing network’s platform. On the back end, the site automatically invites all vacationers to a secret Facebook Event for more general discussion. After joining a vacation, users never have to leave their Facebook account to socialize, but of course they will to investigate the site’s other cool features.
Vacation Relation has ensured global partnerships some very progressive cities including Oslo, Innsbruck, Athens, and Atlantic City. Gearing up for this year’s spring break they have also teamed up with StudentCity.com.
