A small team, with atomic skills, have been tinkering away behind the scenes at Secret Getaway to bring its members the best of an eCommerce travel site with refined travel flash sale offers and exceptional service on par with any top hotel personal concierge.
Almost ten years ago, a developer, a hotelier and a marketing strategist joined forces, combining their diverse backgrounds, experience and skills to launch what has become South Africa's first and fastest growing luxury travel flash sale site. They did their research and manifested what Secret Getaway's voucher-based system is today - a limited golden ticket of flexibility and spontaneous adventure. And locals can't get enough of it.
While Secret Getaway was steadily growing, its flexible voucher based system saw an exponential uptake of 410% YOY growth in its membership between 2019 and 2022 (during the COVID years when travel was at its lowest and guests were hungrier than ever to travel and explore once more). Since then the site regularly sees a significant doubling of its sales volume during its 'Best of' quarterly voucher sale and consistent growth weekly due to exciting limited time only campaigns and flash sales for luxury hotels and unique getaways that the team shortlist to feature. Curatoship is at the heart of it all. Why? To save guests time trawling sites for the best destinations and the best promotions.
Here's a bit more about how Secret Getaway works and the team bringing you this legendary way of experiencing the best of South Africa Travel.
1. Secret Getaway features voucher sales for locals to save today and book when ready. Voucher sales are featured for a limited time and there are also a limited number available. Some hotels only make three vouchers available, and others many more. There is no fixed rule on how many days the offer will remain on the site as it all depends on demand and how quickly they sell out.
2. It is a closed community (free to subscribe). But this lets you access exclusive rates not readily available anywhere else. A locked offer is a members-only offer. The 'Members' Voucher Sales are always exclusive to the Secret Getaway platform offering the best savings & even better additional inclusions.
3. Secret Getaway is made up of a small team of travel aficionados with atomic skills who use their community insider knowledge to curate the best offers from each of our profiled partners.
4. Secret Getaway members receive the featured flash sale offers first, every week via our exclusive emailing list. This is just one of the ways we ensure you, as our member, experience more luxury for less! Sign up here.
5. The online world is a noisy place. Secret Getaway is that well-travelled friend and concierge who readily shares a short-list of handpicked, quality, great value offers.
6. The carefully selected list of exclusive offers are handpicked based on an establishment's reputation as well as its quality and service standards. Secret Getaway does not just plug an establishment to create a deal. There are many websites available out there that offer any and all hotels, we aren’t one of those.
7. Secret Getaway also grades these handpicked offers according to its own unique categories so our community knows what to expect:
- Crown are ultra luxurious, a royal experience that’s fit for a king.
- Premium are popular 5* hotels that offer a fantastic level of service & experience.
- Classic are 4* trusted favourites that consistently exceed guest’s expectations.
- Character establishments are ungraded getaways that surprise and delight with their location/ service or unique features and high-quality standards & service.
8. Secret Getaway showcases the best of the best in Southern Africa. Our philosophy really is about making stylish travel simple and affordable for South Africans to explore own country and continent. We believe less is more, and our selections are based on quality and trust.
9. Secret Getaway partners discreetly feature flash sales to you as members through this unique online tool, so spontaneous locals can experience more getaways, more often.
10. Vouchers unlock unique savings and the magic of spontaneous travel but you'll never lose out. If you can't find dates to suit you, enjoy the freedom to convert your voucher to credit and try a different getaway matched to your window of travel and voucher validity.
It's an easy process in your 'My Account > Vouchers' section. You can also request a refund via your Secret Getaway online wallet before your voucher expires.
11. Secret Getaway is designed to give you full control over your travel choices. A flexible voucher system allows members to independently check availability. However, if it's your first voucher purchase and you are unsure about how to proceed, please start a chat with us and we'll walk you through the steps. We are available 9am to 9pm, seven days a week.
12. When you add your Secret Getaway voucher to your basket, it is held for you for 20 minutes to give you enough time to complete your purchase. Keep in mind, voucher numbers are limited, if you do not purchase within 20min, the offer will be released back onto the site.
13. Secret Getaway is an exclusive community that thrives on connection.
Not just any connection.
A loyal Secret Getaway member shares that "there are so many things to marvel about at Secret Getaway...From the exclusive feeling of being part of a member-only community... to the love for local travel that Secret Getaway sparks with a variety of offers and unique travel planning tools and features".
"I have to say, I do indeed feel like I’m part of an ivy-league club that goes above and beyond to make sure all my needs are taken care of.
"Quick and courteous response to queries, bending over backwards and accommodative, I could go on but the bottom line is, the people behind the scenes at Secret Getaway are top notch customer service personified..."
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