Partner Article

Selling the great British holiday

While our antipodean cousins mark their summers riding the surf on idyllic coastlines and barbecuing meat in the blazing sun, many an English holiday is spent cooped up in a caravan avoiding the rain.

However a North East firm is proving that the traditional British concept of a holiday on wheels has truly global appeal after taking its caravans and motor homes into Australia and New Zealand.

After years of being confined largely to the UK market, leisure vehicle specialist Geist Direct of Birtley, has developed a new website which has brought the world to its doorstep.

In fact, a number of customers from Down Under have even designed their own bespoke vehicle online and then travelled to the North East to pick up their model and begin the holiday of their lifetime.

The site is helping to fuel expansion at the firm and has led to a move to bigger premises, with the promise of new job creation to follow.

The site was developed by Gateshead-based digital firm Industrial Strength, and allows visitors to browse and take virtual tours of new and used caravans and motor homes, watch video clips of the design and manufacturing process, and ‘build’ a vehicle to their specification.

It also links viewers to the Geist network of service centres, the recently-launched owners club, and a Facebook page.

Geist Direct’s director, Patrick Carlin, said: “Prospective customers from all over the world can choose from our entire product range and take advantage of British design coupled with German engineering - and all without paying extra charges to a dealer or middleman.

“It has played a massive part in helping us to expand the business, create new jobs in our sales and service departments in Birtley and Lincoln, and prompted a move to bigger premises so we can showcase a much larger range of vehicles.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the site is now an integral part of our marketing efforts.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .