HomeToGo: How a Global Leader in Vacation Rentals Accelerated Growth through Global PEO

Industry	Real Estate
Location	Germany
Company Size	350+
Founding Year	2014
With Horizons since 2019

Website

Home2Go, a vacation home rental service, was able to use PEO to manage the complexity of the early pandemic days.

HomeToGo sets up travelers in vacation homes, cabins, beach houses, apartments, and condos all over the world. They also target the more intrepid among us: Houseboats, castles, farm stays, glamping, you name it — they’re the go-to platform for adventurous accommodation options.

HomeToGo continued to grow its business globally…

Founded in 2014 and operating in partnership with dozens of international travel apps and websites, 2019 was the year that HomeToGo decided to really light a rocket under its Asia-Pacific expansion.

They sought a flexible international hiring solution: They needed to be able to easily scale in each international location to reflect local demand. The time-consuming and expensive prospect of setting up separate legal entities in every international location did not appeal.

This is where Horizons’ global PEO solution came in. A global PEO — global Professional Employer Organization — becomes the local employer of record for an international business in any country or region it wishes to operate in.

Horizons took care of employment contracts, payroll, and employee taxes for HomeToGo in China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea, while the employees themselves worked under the day-to-day management of HomeToGo.

“Our industry moves fast. We need to be ready to support our customers wherever they choose to go on vacation.

By using a global PEO solution, we were able to match our global staffing needs with rapidly evolving demand. Horizons enabled us to do this quickly — and cost-effectively —without the need to set up and close local entities.”

Dr. Patrick Andrae, Co-founder and CEO of HomeToGo

…then came Covid…

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, many companies in the travel industry were left scrambling.

Not HomeToGo.

Global PEO meant HomeToGo could be nimble — it could respond quickly to changes in demand due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. It wasn’t ‘locked in’ to anyone overseas market.

With Horizons’ support, HomeToGo was able to restructure its Asia-Pacific operations with speed, reducing its presence in some places, while ramping up its operations in other countries as international travel resumed. HomeToGo was then able to hire staff in new locations — Thailand, France, Spain, and the Netherlands — without needing to worry about slow company set-up and bureaucratic processes.

Going from strength to strength, October 2021 saw the company managing a successful IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

…and global PEO saved the day.

Summing up his experience, HomeToGo co-founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick Andrae, put it this way:

“Our industry moves fast. We need to be ready to support our customers wherever they choose to go on vacation.

By using a global PEO solution, we were able to match our global staffing needs with rapidly evolving demand. Horizons enabled us to do this quickly — and cost-effectively —without the need to set up and close local entities.”

About Horizons

Horizons help businesses expand, recruit and hire in 180+ international locations. Horizons handles all employee payroll, benefits, and tax compliance on behalf of international enterprises, saving them up to 85 percent on the cost of international hires.

See what other clients say

"As a seed-stage, London-based startup, we were initially hesitant to expand internationally due to the administrative workload involved. Horizons completely took the headache out of the process and allowing us to hire a team of software engineers in Germany."

Gabor SzedlakCo-founder & COO

"I truly appreciated the thoroughness and the professionalism of Horizons personnel while going through the process of hiring internationally. When they spoke and commented, they spoke confidently and knowledgable on all subject matters pertaining to internal employment."

Gary PaskyVice President of Software Development

"On deciding to begin commercial activities in Asia Pacific, we needed a provider to handle the employment and remuneration of our workforce. With Horizons the result was a fast, efficient and fit-for-purpose employment solution. We recommend Horizons as an EOR provider.”

Chris MorrellManaging Director

"The collaboration with the Horizons team is excellent. Both our local employee as well as our HQ in Germany are more than pleased with the support provided and the simplicity of the service. We can highly recommend the Horizons solution to anyone."

Christoph EngelbertCo-Founder & CTO

"We needed an EOR that could provide expert support for payroll in APAC. We are pleased with Horizons’ expertise and the fact that they are flexible, responsive, and easily accessible from Belgium. They were able to provide services within the short timeline we required."

Katia FlamandHuman Resources