Recently we had an opportunity to speak with James Asquith, the Founder & CEO at Holiday Swap about Holiday Swap

Please share with us the backstory of what motivated you to create this app.

After travelling to all 196 countries in the world and becoming the Guinness World Record Holder for being the youngest person to travel to every country in the world, I wanted to create a tool where everyone else could travel for cheaper - taking out one of the biggest expenditures - the accommodation. At just $1 per night and no subscription fees on our free app, it's truly saving us all so much money!

What features do you hope to roll out to your app in the future?

We have lots of exciting and revolutionary features coming over the next few months but I can't say too much about them right now, but stay tuned and we'll hopefully make some noise about them when they are released.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the creation of this app?

Having people getting in touch saying how much more they are travelling now and how much money they save, to spend on flights or experiences rather than a place to sleep is really rewarding for all of us that created Holiday Swap. We all love to travel and this really is the first truly global social media travel app that has all the tools to allow us to travel wider and further for cheaper.

What is the coolest or most innovative feature of your app?

I would have to say two features. One is our 'Always Bag Packed' option which allows users to to be broad in trying to find that really cool penthouse or villa maybe to swap with. Users can filter settings like if they want a beach or a mountain setting and then see where the world could take them. The other cool feature I really like is the Interactive tour guide option on MyMap that allows users to search for cool things to do or restaurants to eat at for examples in cities and make social connections

What surprised you most in your journey to create this app?

How many people wanted to help make this vision succeed and the supportive nature of literally 100s of people that worked to get Holiday swap to where it is now.

Which other mobile apps or technology have inspired you?

Very few in this segment particularly, That's why we created Holiday Swap. We wanted to make travel cheaper, and information on what to do more conscise. This is a platform for travellers made by travellers.

Do you have any recommendations or advice for others wanting to create a mobile app?

Make sure you surround yourself with supportive people however they can. You will know the ones wanting you to succeed and having that people power is far more beneficial for everyone that money

How did you decide which platforms to release your app on and do you plan on releasing your app to other platforms?

We essentially wanted to release on the two main platforms, the App Store and PlayStore, and we will certainly look at expanding onto other relevant platforms. We always want to evolve and disrupt as a company

How is your app different than the rest of the market? Which unique need does it fill?

It allows us all to utilise what we already have and own in today's growing sharing economy, whilst keeping all the power in your hands. You can match up and choose who, where and when you swap with, so you can use your empty house or even room to stay somewhere in over 100 countries now. The beauty is house values aren't the same everywhere, but hotel prices in chains seem to be consistent, and therefore you could potentially swap a 1 bed with a house depending on where you want to look!

You can view Holiday Swap here