Agaztak, the Easiest Way to Book your Spring Break

BY ABDALLAH ABDELDAYEM
@AMABDELDAYEM

The paradisaical sun rays glisten on your hair, as you bury your feet an inch deeper into the balmy sand. You take a deep whiff of crisp air, while relishing the faint taste of salt on your tongue. It’s Spring Break, you’re on the North Coast, and it’s all thanks to Agaztak.

Agaztak [your vacation in Arabic] was co-founded by Hisham Refaat, an AUC mechanical engineering graduate, in July 2013. It’s a startup that is currently operating in a small office in New Cairo, reaching about 30,000 likes on Facebook.

The online service allows travelers from all around the world to rent properties listed by home owners on the Northern coastline and other coastal areas in Egypt.

Refaat explains that he aims to promote tourism in Egypt – by making use of its available resources, specifically on the Northern Coastline. He believes that the northern coastline isn’t utilized to its full potential, given that it’s only occupied during the summer months.

The start-up provides their customers with pictures and prices of potential vacation houses alongside other online services such as checking in or out and housekeeping.

Agaztak targets two different types of clients: homeowners and tenants.

Refaat assures homeowners that Agaztak provides a “very good yield” for their investment with no added discomfort: he described it as a “hassle free process.”

As for the tenants he described the process to be as “easy as a click of a button.” It is highly secure, and has the capability of cancelling a reservation 7 days prior to checking in, guaranteeing a full refund and no added fees.

Refaat said Agaztak was inspired by the “massive potential” of the northern coastline and “several bad experiences” with brokers.

“Renting an apartment on the northern coastline, which cost too much and was really bad, was something I believed to be an unnecessary hassle,” Refaat said.

He believes that brokers don’t always get it right and making a deal is complicated; these obstacles should be eliminated to make it less hectic for tourists.

Agaztak offers a call center service for those who prefer to use the phone, and with a recent association with the highly reputable Booking.com, it now offers over 2000 property listings online over 10 websites, including AirBNB, with an emphasis on the northern coastline.

“Booking.com is the world’s largest hotel marketing agency, and has a wide audience,” Refaat said.

“They came to us and we thought it was a great opportunity to outsource the marketing aspect of the business and focus more on the service.”

Refaat insists that Agaztak’s features surpass those of what a real estate broker might offer, adding that his app is a “professional service” that has reasonable prices, nice homes and an international market that gives him a massive edge over his competitors.

Mohamed Bahaa, a 23-year old medical student at Cairo University said that the employees at the call center were very helpful, and that he’s most likely going to use Agaztak again next summer if he “needed to.”

“I usually would stay at a friends’ or relatives’ place when going to the North Coast,” Bahaa told The Caravan.

Last summer he was unable to stay at a friend’s house so he turned to Agaztak, adding “it was a good experience really, and we enjoyed our stay.”

“Before our existence, you would have to go yourself, or send someone all the way to the North Coast just to check if the property is suitable or not, but, now Agaztak provides Google maps of the location, pictures of the apartments, and a history of who previously stayed there,” Refaat said.

Refaat believes that students and youth need to contribute to the project and is open to hiring them in vacancies. He said that work times are “counter-cyclical to education.”