(Courtesy of passoverlistings.com) All-inclusive Passover vacations have been around for decades, but three friends and a website have already begun to shake-up this multi-million-dollar industry.
Brandyss Katz, Daniel Kramer and Doni Schwartz have independently been attending Passover programs at hotels for many years. In 2018, Katz founded the Facebook group “Passover Program Reviews, to connect with Pesach vacationers across the globe. “The high growth and contribution rate within the group was an obvious message to us that there was a gap in the marketplace. There was not one website or publication to date that had combined revolutionary functionality for both the user and program owner,” explained Katz. Based on their considerable experience and individual areas of professional expertise, they decided to help the industry by creating a one-stop shop for consumers looking for their perfect Passover vacation.
“Our mission is to be the ‘Yelp’ of Pesach programs,” said Kramer, “a place where people can write their honest reviews and others can benefit from their experiences. It is the only place where someone planning a Passover vacation can browse and sort programs according to their specific preferences.”
Pesach vacationer Chaya Frankel is enthusiastic about PassoverListings.com. “This past year was the first time I was not going to work on chol hamoed and if we were going to make the investment, this vacation had to be great.” Beachy and warm, laid back crowd, lots of good kids programming and access to after-hours babysitting were some items that topped their list. “I would not have been comfortable booking a trip of this cost without hearing from people who had been to those programs and getting questions answered about my specific needs. PassoverListings.com is going to help people find the program that is right for them.”
Program operators want nothing less than happy customers who found the right program for their family. People go away for Pesach for many different reasons, but whatever the reason and the program, it’s going to be a significant expenditure. Schwartz hopes that PassoverListings.com will provide transparency in the industry and assist programs in finding and retaining the appropriate guests, making everyone happy. “No other website provides program operators with the ability to reply to reviews posted about their program, post information and deals, and manage their leads and contacts through a dashboard on the back end that only they can see. A listing on our website is more than just an ad.”
Avi Lasko, owner of Lasko Getaways, uses PassoverListings.com. “We have been using PassoverListings for only a short time and have already felt its impact. It is a truly honest and transparent website for all different Pesach programs. We are thrilled with the success we have had so far. It is very well done, easy to maintain for the Pesach program operator, and the customer service for the site couldn’t be better! Keep up the amazing work! Lasko Getaways looks forward to utilizing the site for many years to come!”
Avrumy Jordan, operations director of the Diamond Club Passover Program in Cancun, agreed. “I trust the team running the website and that they have everyone’s best interests in mind. Consumers now have this tremendous tool where they can search for a program that has the things that are important to them,” said Jordan. “For an operator, it will really cultivate solid leads—they [potential clients] are calling your program because you have something they are already interested in.”
“This website promises to be the Better Business Bureau of Pesach programs,” says Baruch Cohen, a litigator in Los Angeles who has worked both sides of cases involving Pesach programs, bothin the court system and in Batei Din. “A program that doesn’t want to engage with a website like this probably doesn’t have transparency and that should be an alarm for people to stay away. This website is long overdue–it most likely would have helped avoid the majority of lawsuits in the industry.”
Katz, Krame, and Schwartz are excited that PassoverListings.com already has over 100 programs listed world-wide. With 500 reviews to date, additional reviews are being posted daily and thousands of users are flocking to the website.. Whether you’re a first-time program goer or head to a new locale each year, PassoverListings.com is the place to start planning for Pesach 2020. Visit www.PassoverListings.com.
