Hospitality Awards 2019

Page 110 www.lux-review.com LUXlife 2019 Global Hospitality Awards Exclusive Private Villas Ltd: Luxury Travel Agency of the Year 2019 - West Sussex The prime end of the villa vacation rental market offered up huge opportunities for the corporate hospitality sector. Kerrie understood that such an opportunity couldn’t be missed and, subsequently, built Exclusive Private Villas through a singular focus on high-end, high-quality properties that have been vetted by property management partners and Kerrie alike. Today, Exclusive Private Villas has become an accommodation provider catering for not only villa renters seeking luxury homes but also businesses looking for accommodation for staff attending exhibitions, conferences and staff getaways. Of particular note throughout 2019, Exclusive Private Villas The Hospitality industry is a true behemoth on the global business landscape, with an established precedence of showing impressive growth year on year. Yet, where growth takes root so too does competition, as people see opportunity to capitalise on - swiftly diminishing -gaps in the market. This was where Exclusive Private Villas made its mark, finding a niche in the industry that others had simply missed. We spoke with CEO and Founder, Kerrie Potts to find out how she has forged an impressive reputation in this highly competitive, and highly discerning, industry. offered the opportunity for companies attending major conferences in locations such as Orlando with a tempting alternative to standard hotel room offerings. Following the success of this, Kerrie has since added more destinations on the back of growing demand throughout the year. As such, currently, Exclusive Private Villas have now established a presence in Europe, Asia and American with villas in Orlando, Barbados, Ibiza, Greece, Koh Samui and Croatia respectively. Indeed, since 2017, Exclusive Private Villas have expanded the number of properties they offer from a base of 100 villas to now over 550 properties, as Kerrie explains. “With such a large number of properties in our portfolio we are often able to offer our clients adjacent properties next door or even across the road to each other in order to cater for very large groups that can often be 70 to 100 strong. Couple that with some of our super large homes, businesses can hold staff events in the bigger homes whilst staff can stay very close by.” When it comes to destinations, the business has not only focussed on the holiday features of an area but also those core cities where convention centres abound. The Orlando area, for example, like Las Vegas, is a typical mecca for companies promoting their goods and services and wishing to showcase them at some of the big exhibition centres like Gaylord Palms or the huge Orange County Convention Center. Unlike the vacation market, the corporate market requires an extra level of service and facilities that Exclusive Private Villas are also able to offer, as Kerrie explains. “We find our corporate clients are wanting something different and more than just meeting rooms and reception areas and we often find ourselves organising staff events with a twist. These invariably involve using the private, and often very large outdoor areas within the grounds of our homes to host events. We offer quite a unique hospitality experience with a much different feel to what our guests are used to. Our clients really enjoy the privacy our homes can uniquely provide”.