INTERVAC - The Original Home Exchange Organization
Intervac was the first organization in the world to launch an organized home exchange service in 1953. Our service grows primarily by referrals - one exchange at a time. Click on each reason Why Intervac to explore it further below on this page:
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Large database of listings - with powerful search and match tools
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Customer support in 35 countries - we live in your country
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High member satisfaction
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New member guarantee
Intervac International was started in Europe in 1953 by a group of teachers who were looking for economic and culturally enriching international vacations. Very quickly home exchanging became recognized as a unique, comfortable and economic way to travel internationally. It allows our members to experience other regions, countries and cultures in an authentic way by trading homes, lifestyles and living as a local rather than a tourist. The name Intervac comes from International Vacations and of course our members also arrange domestic exchanges as well.
We have 50+ years of experience in facilitating home exchanges as this compelling travel concept grew primarily by referrals from satisfied home exchangers. Over decades we have built much international goodwill and trust within our international community - one exchange at a time. In the early years we operated by mailing paper catalogues to our members. With the advent of the Internet in the 1990's, paper catalogues became obsolete. Now we operate a powerful, easy-to-use and secure online database system accessible via the Internet.
Here are some of Intervac's features which facilitate home exchanging for thousands of our members worldwide:
Large database of listings - with powerful search and match tools
You can search our large, multilingual and secure (hacker-proof) database of members' property listings using both clickable maps and/or our enhanced search tools to enable you to find that "perfect match" internationally or domestically. Due to our long history, our database of paying members is large, diverse and well balanced between what is demanded and available. Our website contains thousands of member listings from 50+ countries which are well balanced both geographically and demographically. You can update or modify your online listing instantly including flagging your status as "not looking at present" after your exchange is arranged. You can easily upload up to 20 photos with your own text descriptions under four photo groupings: (1) our home (2) our family and pets (3) our lifestyle, and (4) our neighbourhood. Your chances of finding the "best" home exchange experience are further enhanced with our system's powerful features such as Enhanced Search, Match-Alert, My Favourites, Hot List, Google Maps plus several types of exchange transactions. We believe that we provide our members with the best opportunities to find suitable and interesting exchanges around the world.
Customer Support in 35 Countries - we live in your country
Our national representatives (one per country - we also call them Organizers) live in 35 countries. We believe that having a committed person living in each country enables Intervac to deliver personalized service in local language by someone who knows local customs and cultural practices. We also have one Organizer who looks after all the countries in which we currently do not have a national representative at present. To review our list of national representatives please click on our page of Contacts. And we are always looking for representatives in new countries where we are currently not represented - if you are interested, please contact Mr. Lucien Mazik who looks after Other Countries.
The Intervac organization is led by our Board of Directors who are Intervac Organizers elected at our annual general meetings (AGMs) which are rotated to different Intervac countries. Our umbrella organization, Intervac International, is registered in Sweden as a non-profit organization. At AGMs your national Organizers elect our Board, develop strategies and action plans as we strive to deliver high-value, consistent service at a reasonable cost to our world-wide base of paying members.
High Member Satisfaction
We have been around the longest in this customer-focused service business. For over 50 years we have repeatedly passed our members' satisfaction test by delivering high-value service with local customer support by our Organizers. Most of our new members come from referrals by existing members. Superb vacation experiences are consistently reported by Intervac members who call their experiences: "fantastic" . . ."superb" . . . "wonderful" . . ."excellent" . . . and "perfect". You can visit our Testimonials section for more details.
New Member Guarantee
Our track record and customer satisfaction is so strong that we offer a complimentary membership extension for another year to any new member who does not find an exchange in their first year after making a reasonable effort.