Eastern suburbs friends Simone Ramjee and Larissa Fuller launch new all-in-one online travel platform Locay.com

Two friends from Sydney’s eastern suburbs have launched an all-in-one travel website which could soon shake up the Australian market.

Larissa Fuller and Simone Ramjee - creators of Locay.com.

Two friends from Sydney’s eastern suburbs have launched an all-in-one travel website which could soon shake up the Australian market.

Locay.com was “born from a passion to connect people with communities and neighbourhoods” they most likely would never have come across.

Its creators – Simone Ramjee and Larissa Fuller – wanted to provide an online platform to take all the hard work out for those with or without ideas about where they want to holiday or visit.

Speaking to the Wentworth Courier, the pair explained how in their past careers they were involved in the “re-establishment of boutique hotels” in the eastern suburbs.

Ms Fuller worked in tourism in the Asia Pacific region and also transformed guesthouses in Bondi, Paddington, Potts Point and Randwick.

As for Ms Ramjee, she headed events and marketing at Bondi Icebergs Dining Room & Bar for nearly a decade and was where the pair first met.

From there, they continued to work together throughout the eastern suburbs, quickly recognising how important location was to an experience.

Larissa Fuller Simone Ramjee.

It ultimately inspired Locay.com.

“We saw there was a real spark for demand in local travel,” Ms Fuller said.

“We decided there was a real opportunity for us to connect boutique accommodation … and create a place where people can reference, research and book [these] styles of accommodations in local neighbourhoods.”

Taking it one step at a time, Ms Ramjee and Ms Fuller, both born and raised in the east, curated a series of neighbourhood guides on the best the area has to offer, including great stays in Bondi and Potts Point.

“We started to have conversations about the way that people like to travel in these neighbourhoods,” Ms Fuller said.

“We were seeing a real trend start to emerge [but] it’s also how Simone and I like to travel when we go abroad … [to ] unique neighbourhoods and niche locations.”

What Ms Ramjee thinks Locay.com does best is it shines the spotlight on “unique new travel concepts” through articles focusing on “savvy” accommodation designs, while giving insider tips and a direct booking link.

And it all comes at a time when Ms Fuller said boutique properties had outperformed the big international hotels since 2020.

Seeing the trend continuing to peak, it sparked the pair to focus on other locations, not just in NSW or Australia, but branching across the pond in New Zealand.

“There’s regional lodges, farmstays, there’s some really interesting concepts, a little bit outside the coastal Bondi Beach guesthouse or city design hotel,” Ms Fuller said.

“Going national gave us more of an opportunity to really go across that diverse range of boutique hotels.”

And now, the pair are continuing to find new ways to break into the market, collaborating with local governments and tourism bodies on key events, while also speaking to local chefs or icons to help develop their content.