"My profit is the enjoyment of it": the Israeli who puts together low-cost trips abroad

8 years ago, Ohad Mettiyo built a family vacation and discounted it significantly.

He realized that he could do this for others as well, so he left high-tech and began tailoring low-cost vacations for Israelis at a nominal cost.

"Why pay 1,300 euros if you can pay 500 for a similar vacation," he says

Eyal Shapira

04/08/2022

Thursday, 04 August 2022, 14:48

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Ziv Reinstein on the Israelis who document the vacations from the "main edition" (video editing: Nir Chen)

"For 20 years I worked as a programmer in large hi-tech companies. The workload and staring at the birds chirping outside my office window eventually overwhelmed me - all I wanted was to go outside and take a walk," laughs Ohad Mattiyo (48) from Kfar Hasidim.

Ohad left the space-mode behind and moved to a completely different type of space: he devotes himself to trips with his family abroad - and offers personalized vacation planning and organization services, at discounted prices.

"What I offer includes everything - offering vacation spots, booking plane tickets, Accommodations, a rental car and planning a personalized route for each day," he says, and says that it all started eight years ago, when he was planning a family trip to Slovakia. "I ordered plane tickets six months in advance, and spent a lot of time planning - what else can be done, where To travel, what to give up.

In the end, I knew in advance what would happen at every stage of the trip, and indeed - the vacation was perfect, without any problems.

Everything was tailor-made for our family."

When he told his friends, family and colleagues about it, many of them asked him for the travel plan and adopted it for their own needs.

From here, the road to opening a business in the field was paved, and about five years ago, Ohad founded the company "Khol etc.". To date, he has sold hundreds of trips, and just last summer 94 Israeli families used his services.

"All I wanted was to go outside and walk."

A fan of Matthiyahu on a trip abroad (photo: surfers' photos, courtesy of the photographer)

It all started when he planned a family vacation to Slovakia.

A fan and the family skiing (photo: surfers' photos, courtesy of the photographer)

Too much information?

The trick is to know how to filter

"We live in a time of information overload. The problem is not finding what to do but what not to do. The important thing is to filter and keep exactly what you need. And along the way, if you can also save - then why not?", he says.

"Each traveler has his preferences. There are those who care less about whether they sit next to the window or in the aisle on the flight, or whether the hotel is in the city center or a little far away. As soon as you make compromises - without giving up comfort, of course - you save money. In addition, if you Order tickets long in advance and at the most correct timing, you will save money. I have a family that is flying to Venice for two weeks at the end of August - as you know, these are the most requested dates. They paid 95 euros per ticket, while today's price is about 600-500 euros per ticket."

"I have traveled to most places myself. I prefer not to plan trips to places I have not visited. If I have not been on a route or to a particular attraction, I do an in-depth investigation - reading articles and talking to people who have visited there. Today, I specialize in seven destinations: Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Northern Italy, Norway, Iceland".

"In most places I traveled by myself."

Rope park in Europe (photo: photos of surfers, courtesy of the photographer)

Among the destinations in which Matthieu specializes is Iceland (photo: Surfers' photos, courtesy of the photographer)

"Every family has its preferences"

If you're building a vacation, then you actually already have a product off the shelf that you're passing on?

"Definitely not. I discovered that it is impossible to take a product from you and sell it over and over again. After all, every family has its preferences: the family composition, culinary requirements, trip preferences such as a nature trail or a visit to water parks, etc. Therefore, every trip is made up anew for each family."

"Yes. For the most part, a family knows what they want to do, but sometimes the question of 'where' remains open. That's why I ask them about their preferences: nature trips? Emphasis on attractions? Star trips? Lakes? Beaches? This information is important to me, So that I can offer an option that suits them. The result is cheaper vacations.

"If you want, for example, to travel in the summer in the French Alps, I would suggest the Austrian Alps. The reason: in Austria they offer discount tickets in the summer, so many of the attractions on your route are already included, which will save you money, without giving up an enjoyable vacation."

"Each trip is made up anew for every family."

Matthew on one of his trips (photo: surfers' photos, courtesy of the photographer)

Last summer, 94 families were helped by Ohad's services (photo: Surfers' photos, courtesy of the photographer)

"Don't be fixated"

Among other things, a sewing fan offers ski vacations at relatively low prices compared to those offered in the search engines for this type of vacations.

According to him, if the prices of this type of vacation start at about 1,300 euros, he manages to offer a similar vacation for about 500 or 600 euros in destinations of a similar level, but less known to Israelis.

True, the hotel will not boast five stars, but it will still be of a good and satisfactory standard.

And now comes the question of the price, and here too a fan manages to surprise.

"The idea is to build a cheap vacation, so I don't charge a high fee in advance. The price I charge is 500 shekels for planning a trip for the family for a week. And if you ask what I earn - I will answer you that my profit is the enjoyment of people flying on vacation and during the trip sending me photos and writing sentences Like 'it's lovely here, thank you!'"

"Open your horizons and don't be fixed. Don't be fixed on a date, on a hotel, on a flight or even on the destination. Any flexibility you discover - can reduce the cost of your vacation."

To the Facebook page of Ohad Mattiyahu.

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