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Interview with Franck Demortière, Sales Director at Digitrips Can you tell us more about the history of DIGITRIPS ?  To understand the history of Digitrips, it’s important to remember that it’s first and foremost an amalgamation of skills, knowledge and know-how. At the outset, several structures coexisted: Misterfly, H-Résa, Koedia… These names may ring a bell, but they are the entities that formed the basis of what became Digitrips. It was their teams, their expertise and their collective energy that gradually shaped the project. A decisive turning point came with the arrival of Émilie Dumont. She really structured the group, giving a guideline to the various existing “houses”. She played the role of architect and project manager, ensuring the emergence of a common identity – a unified brand. It was in this convergence that Digitrips was consolidated. The group has structured itself around a multi-product, multi-channel offering, designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of customers: travel agencies, TMCs, works councils, major e-retailers like Cdiscount, and even airports… Today, these customers can be found in France, Belgium, Italy and tomorrow beyond. International development is based on the same fundamentals as in France, but with a finer selection of products, in order to give priority to those that are most adaptable and competitive on a global scale. In particular, we focus on the dynamic package, i.e. a combination of hotel, car and transfers. Yes, some of these products are already well represented on the market. But our growth in France shows that there is still room for challengers, especially when you know how to differentiate yourself. As far as dynamic packages are concerned, we are clearly positioned in the city-break and short-stay segments. Our specialty is urban short breaks, a segment that has been largely under-exploited in recent years, particularly by tour operators. There’s a real opportunity to be seized here, as demonstrated by our success in the e-package segment. We are currently in the launch phase for the train product, particularly for European City Breaks. This is a real business skill, which we are developing both on a B2B and white-label basis, including abroad. It’s part of our drive to target a wide range of partners, including e-tailers, banks, insurers, airlines and airports How is Digitrips’ sales organization structured, do you already have an international footprint ?    Our sales organization is structured by market and customer segment, not by product. Today, we have B2B teams in France, Belgium and Italy. These three zones are organized in much the same way: they cover travel agencies, agency networks, tour operators, TMCs…. These are the three main types of customer we serve. Tomorrow, we will be structuring an international development division, which will take charge of Italy and support the opening up of new markets. This division will also be responsible for building “reciprocal” contracts with other players in the sector – in other words, two-way partnerships involving the exchange of services or customer portfolios. What led you to collaborate with IMPACT CONSULTANTS ?   The decision to call on Impact Consultants wasn’t originally mine – it came from Émilie Dumont. But I can certainly explain why the choice was made. At the time, we were clearly lacking in-house: we were short of manpower, brains and skills. Impact Consultants seemed to us the most appropriate solution to meet this need, with a real knowledge of the markets and the assignments to be carried out. Then, as we worked together on the SalesFactory project, we discovered that this collaboration enabled us to go even further. It brought to light a need that had not been identified at the outset: that of creating a Sales Operations position in particular. This position didn’t yet exist in our organization. Océane Recorbet is temporarily filling this role, until we are able to recruit the right person to fill it on a permanent basis. An interview by Océane Recorbet Partagez cette page

Distribution, a strategic lever in travel ? Why is distribution a key strategic lever in the travel sector? In many organizations in the travel sector (transport, hotels, parks, etc.), distribution is still too often relegated to the background. Dedicated positions are rare, distribution policies are vague or absent, and performance by channel is not sufficiently monitored. Yet distribution is an essential link between supply and demand. It links marketing, revenue management (RMP), technology and, of course, sales. Here are 5 key reasons to proactively and strategically manage your distribution: 1. Distribution is a marketing showcase Distribution, whether direct or indirect, is the first showcase for your products and services. While content is often well mastered in direct channels, this is not always the case in indirect channels. In the airline industry, for example, GDS flows (via EDIFACT) do not allow for « on-the-fly » personalization, hence the emergence of XML-based NDC. In all sectors, the quality of descriptions, visuals and highlights requires constant attention, even with the help of tools like channel managers. 2. Distribution costs are significant Distribution costs can account for up to 20% of sales. In hotels, Booking’s average commission is 15%. In the airline sector, although the basic commission is often zero, costs linked to GDSs, NDC aggregators, incentives or in-house staff can quickly push the bill up to 10%. What’s more, the costs of direct distribution (advertising, IT, staff, physical agencies, etc.) are often underestimated, or even higher than those of indirect distribution. Direct sales offer advantages such as customer loyalty and knowledge, but they are not always the most profitable. 3. The right distribution mix optimizes sales Commercial success depends on a complementary distribution strategy. A policy that favors direct sales is logical, but it cannot cover all segments. A well-structured third-party distribution network (Tour-Operating, specific sales such as seafarers in the airline industry, etc.) can generate incremental sales without cannibalization. The important thing is to have a segmented, animated and well-managed approach. 4. Distributors are a valuable source of inspiration Distributors are often experts in their field. They understand customer expectations, user experience and technological innovations. In the hotel industry, for example, taking inspiration from Booking’s best practices can considerably improve the performance of your own site. Their expertise is an asset for all departments: marketing, tech, customer service… 5. Distribution is at the heart of technological choices The mapping of distribution tools in the travel sector resembles a complex spider’s web. Choosing the right technologies is fundamental to controlling content, costs and the customer experience. With the arrival of AI, new channels are emerging (such as conversational agents). This means we need to review our technological architecture, making it scalable and customer-oriented. How can you regain control of your distribution? To optimize your distribution strategy, here are the key steps: Draw up a clear distribution policy and share it internally Monitor costs and revenues via channel-specific dashboards Define roles and responsibilities internally Build solid, high-performance partnerships Implement a scalable technological architecture Animate, control and monitor each distribution network in real time At IMPACT CONSULTANTS, we have developed tried-and-tested methodologies to help travel industry players move towards more efficient, agile and controlled distribution. Our main piece of advice: don’t be subjected to your distribution, drive it! An article wrote by Rodolphe Lenoir Discover our associate Partagez cette page