NewsBiscuit

A travel company has bucked the trend of lower bookings by introducing ‘proxy holidays’ which remove the need to go away at all.

Grant Sanders, head of Stevenage-based ProxyHolidays, said he had the idea on a recent trip to Paris. ‘I was queuing to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and I couldn’t help noticing how bored everyone looked. When they finally reached the front, they held up their mobiles to get a picture and then moved on to photograph something else without even having a proper look.’

With his contacts, Grant was able to recruit an army of tour reps who could hold up a mobile anywhere in the world to photograph buildings, scenery, statues, restaurants and airport lounges. A big advantage is being able to mix destinations, perhaps switching to Las Vegas when bored with Pompeii, without the inconvenience of a long flight in between.

‘Our service is totally flexible: you can send us a mobile of your own or you can rent one through us,’ said Grant. ‘You can even upgrade to the latest model at very reasonable rates. Many people just leave us to get on with their holiday while they enjoy themselves at home, but some do like to get more involved, and for them we have an interactive wall where they can hold up their mobiles up and receive pictures direct from the reps.’

While the service was initially aimed at sightseeing breaks, the company has experienced considerable demand for a beach holiday alternative, and now issues a free bag of sand to scatter around the bedroom floor and inside clothes for an authentic experience.

The company says the great thing about proxy holidays is the lack of arguments and not feeling exhausted by the travel. ‘You just spend your time getting pissed and eating takeaways, and you can get away from annoying mates or family members whenever you need to. And to complete the service, we can Photoshop all the pictures you take of each other into the ones we have taken for you.’

Posted: Feb 19th, 2010 by Des Custard