The year 2023 has barely begun, but it already brings a lot of news for those who want to travel to France. Atout France – Office that represents French Tourism in Brazil, launched a new e-learning platform called France Conssaisseur. It provides various contents for the training of travel agents and tour operators on destinations in France.
Caroline Putnoki, Director of South America at Atout France and creator of the France Connaisseur platform, spoke about this news.
Caroline, how did the idea of creating the France Connaisseur platform come about?
It is a training platform for travel agents and operators, in fact, tourism professionals who sell Tourism in France. It's called France Connoisseur. We launched this platform just a few weeks ago. We finished putting it together at the end of December 2022, we are in the middle of launching it and we are communicating with all the travel agencies and operators.
I often say that the relationship between Brazil and France is truly one of passion, and France has always held a very special place, both in the hearts of travelers, Brazilians in general, and in business. So, to facilitate the marketing of the destination France, there was a lack of a training platform that many destinations have had for many years, even France already had in the past, but it needed to modernize and remodel this platform and finally this project that we started during the pandemic, with the changes that occurred during the pandemic, and above all the great importance that the digital world has taken on, we arrived with this online platform.
What makes the platform different and why is it important for travel agents and tour operators?
The difference is that it will give a general approximation to the destination of France, which can be very complicated on the one hand, because France is a super diversified destination, with many regions that are very different from each other. When you talk about Brittany or Provence, they are two totally different regions. For this reason, we want to explain and give a first sample to tourism professionals so that they understand these differences, these regional specificities, and show the number of products that the travel agent will be able to sell to his client in France.
Is the France Connaisseur platform exclusively for tourism professionals or can tourists access it?
This platform is really exclusive for tourism professionals; it is not made for final customers, for consumers. It is a platform with a professional objective. Why? Because Atotut France also wants to strengthen these relationships with commerce, with tourism professionals, it wants to maintain a very close, very close relationship with people, with professionals. These people will eventually become part of the Atout France VIPs. It's really a very B2B initiative.
Is France Connaisseur now available for global access? How is the registration done?
So this platform is now very easily accessible, simply by clicking on the link of the platform that will be available (also in the Diário do Turismo). So, any professional on Facebook will be able to click and register there, putting their name, etc. etc. By answering a few questions, you will be able to create your profile.
Does the platform have translation in which languages?
This platform is currently available in five languages and among the main ones, Brazilian Portuguese and other languages as well: Japanese, French, of course, English and Spanish, for now, but it is expected to be translated into other languages later. Among them Chinese, Korean and other European languages.
In addition to the existing content, will the France Connaisseur platform be enriched with other material over time?
This platform was born here in Brazil but now it is global, all professionals in the world can access it and, yes, it will have more and more information because, as I mentioned, all Asian countries are included, as well as Japan. Hope to see you there on that platform. After registration, the entire Atout France team will be available to talk. We are at your disposal, see you soon! Thank you.