The platform allows the company’s travellers to connect with one another before and after they've landed on their trips and organise social get-togethers, events and parties. It also provides access to a new feature called Global Getaways which allows customers to join unique “bucket list” side trips with other like-minded travellers organised by the company’s Community Managers.
“We’ve been told by our travellers that the biggest barrier to going overseas and doing a working holiday or teaching abroad or any sort of long-term overseas work & travel trip, is that they don't know anyone, and it's scary to go solo and leave your comfort zone back home,” said Global Work & Travel CEO and Co-founder, Jürgen Himmelmann.
“We're now alleviating that barrier to travel with this gap-year-industry-first technology.
“This is why we decided to develop and launch our own social network that's been custom made and developed in-house by our talented tech team, doesn't use any out-of-the-box software or solution that other brands might, and it now reduces that barrier for young people to travel abroad,” Mr Himmelmann said.
gWorld Social has been in development for the past 18 months during Covid and a beta version was launched in January in Canada to test and refine the technology and the user experience. It is now available to Global’s customers on every continent, except Africa.
Recently, 15 of Global Work & Travel’s customers in Canada used gWorld Social to arrange a ten pin bowling and drinks get-together independently in Banff, without the need for any Global representatives to host. (photo supplied, Samantha Bruty is front row in the middle)
“We used the platform to get a whole bunch of us travelling in Canada together for a night out,” said British traveller Samantha Bruty, 31, of Barnstaple in North Devon.
“I thought we’d only get a handful of people but the response was way better than expected and we had a great session. The company paid for it too!”
The Australia-based Global Work & Travel is one of the world's leading and largest “work & travel” marketplaces. It has specialised in, and developed an extensive range of, work and travel and study trips since it was founded in 2008, backed by the mantra of “Be more than a tourist”. Its trips are designed for people to travel for longer by being able to work abroad to fund their journeys.
The company’s headquarters is on the Gold Coast in Australia, with three other offices in Melbourne, London and Vancouver. It has more than 100 staff worldwide.
The company operates primarily in six countries - Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States - and it provides Working Holiday packages along with Volunteer, Au Pair, Teaching English, Internship, Tutor, Remote Work and Study trips. It recently partnered with leading adventure tour companies to offer tours to its customers, and provides international staffing services to primarily hospitality and tourism companies with people on working holiday visas.
“So, if you're going overseas to spend six months working in a ski resort in Canada or you're looking to spend four months working on a Barrier Reef island in Queensland or you're going to teach English in Costa Rica for eight months, you don't have to worry about going solo and not knowing anyone,” Mr Himmelmann said.
“The social platform is already being heavily used by the travellers in our network who are able to make instant friends with similar interests and swap advice and travel tips.”
The social media platform is built into Global’s personalised trip portal for its travellers. With its next-release due in the coming weeks, gWorld 5.0, which has also undergone a major redevelopment from its predecessors, it helps travellers do much more than just plan and track the progress of their trip.
The app also allows travellers to:
- Upload, download and access important documents including flight tickets and travel insurance policies.
- Make payments, check the weather and a countdown until departure.
- Create a professional resumé with the help of a resumé builder tool.
- Track job opportunities and manage interviews.
- Secure discounts on a range of products and experiences worldwide from partner brands through an exclusive Marketplace.
- Join the community on side trips through Global Getaways and local meet-ups with other travellers.
- Access a range of online courses to learn language basics or upskill before or whilst abroad, particularly in the hospitality and service industries.
Mr Himmelmann said he expects the upgraded gWorld app and social feature will help drive additional revenue for the business.
“Global Work & Travel is just as much a tech business these days as it is a travel company and these industry-first innovations are essential to not just stay ahead of the competition but to provide a seamless and highly effective user experience for our customers.
“We anticipate this will help improve conversion rates and give us the edge over our competitors by making it really easy for our travellers to make friends on the road immediately. We’ve had this idea since we first started and it’s finally come to fruition thanks to the slower times of Covid.
“Our aim is to launch a full marketing and awareness campaign through our channels over the next few months and this will also drive customers to our business.”
The company also plans to extend this social media platform to its sister site, DealsAway.com, so customers with the online travel agency can also connect and meet with other travellers in the same region.
