Interview: Evaneos reinvents the tourism model

Faced with the rise of overtourism, many destinations such as Venice, Dubrovnik, Japan, the Calanques... are adopting measures to protect themselves from the massive influx of tourists. Awareness of the impact of overtourism on the environment and local populations is becoming increasingly visible.

Evaneos, a start-up turned scale-up, has been working for 15 years to reinvent the tourism model towards a more sustainable one. Interview with Aurélie Sandler and Laurent de Chorivit, Managing Directors of Evaneos.

How do you source accommodation?

Evaneos is a marketplace that connects local agencies directly with travelers. Based on the premise that it's the people who live there who know their region best, we only work with committed, local agencies, selected from a variety of criteria grouped together in our "Better Trips Index". In this way, local agents source the accommodations to ensure the most authentic experience. At Evaneos, 90% of nights sold are in locally-owned accommodation. A formula that works: since 2009, over 700,000 travelers have co-created an authentic and unforgettable stay in collaboration with local agencies.

What are your eco-responsible criteria?

We only work with independent local agencies that share our vision of tourism: to provide travelers with an authentic experience, far from the crowds, that is unforgettable and respectful of ecosystems.

In addition to our Better Trips Index criteria, since 2022 we've been working with Travelife, the most widely recognized sustainable tourism certification, to help our agencies get certified. The certification process, whether with Travelife or other certifications (as some of our local agencies are also B Corp for example), allows us to audit the value chain of our partner agencies and ensure the best quality and sustainability of their offer. Today, over 60% of our agencies are certified or in the process of being certified, with the aim of reaching 100% by 2025 .

What does B Corp certification entail?

We have been B Corp certified since 2022. This certification rewards our efforts in terms of social and environmental impact. This label provides our customers with a quality benchmark, and testifies internally to the commitment of our teams. Because to be certified, we have scrutinized all our practices and measured the impact on all our stakeholders: agencies, customers, partners... It also allows us to join the B Corp community! A movement of companies in France, Europe and around the world committed to progress and positive impact. We're aiming for recertification in 2025, so we can improve even further.

Why did you decide to stop offering city breaks?

First, a symbolic act. To be in line with our values, it seemed impossible to continue selling air travel of less than 5 days, while promoting a more sustainable model of travel. It's a question of consistency and exemplarity. This decision is intended to raise awareness and encourage best practices among travellers and local agencies. Finally, this decision, taken at the end of 2023, is a first step in the construction of a broader decarbonization plan, which is part of our three levers for more responsible tourism along with a fair redistribution of value in the local economy and the fight against mass tourism.

Are you seeing a new craze for sustainable tourism? Do you sense a growing awareness that goes beyond the convinced?

In the 15 years we've been operating in the sector, there's a definite craze and a real awareness that's growing. This is borne out by numerous surveys, which we share with all the players in the sector. There is a desire to travel better, whether by reducing the number of trips, or by promoting more responsible and authentic accommodation. But it's not always easy for travellers to find their way around: where to travel? In what season? By plane or train? And for how long? In fact, 44% of travelers surveyed don't know where to find more sustainable travel options, despite their good intentions. (Booking 2023)

So now it's time to take action! And that's where we have a role to play as a tourism industry player, to guide travelers, educate them and develop an offer in line with this expectation, making it more visible and accessible.

What does this trend mean? What obstacles are you seeing?

In a survey we carried out with Opinionway, three quarters of French people say they are looking for vacation destinations with few tourists (75%), and almost the same proportion prefer off-the-beaten-track itineraries (72%). A trend towards "slow tourism" is also emerging, with 68% of French people saying they are prepared to limit their number of trips. Some are even prepared to go further, with the majority supporting the introduction of quotas to limit over-visiting of sites (52%). Many travellers choose closer or alternative destinations, to limit the impact of their trip and avoid contributing to mass tourism, such as Peru, Sri Lanka, Albania or Uzbekistan. An off-season trend, with booking peaks in March, April and May, or completely outside school vacations. At Evaneos, we have seen an almost 2-fold increase in travel between March and May, compared with the whole of the first half of the year.

It's up to us in the tourism industry to take the plunge, given the lack of clarity about what sustainable travel is and what tour operators are offering. We're determined to make our impact clear and transparent, to improve it, and to make sustainable travel attractive to everyone: travelers, agents and the local population.

Why is it important to combat mass tourism?

It's a fact that 95% of tourist flows are concentrated in 5% of the world's visitable land (UNWTO 2023). For years, certain countries or regions of the world have attracted the majority of tourists, to the detriment of natural ecosystems, tourist sites and local cultures ... and of the travelers themselves. But it's not irreversible! To do so, we need to change people's imaginations, to show that it's possible to have an unforgettable experience in less-frequented places, or in less traditional seasons - this transformation is our spearhead at Evaneos.

You have 95.6 k followers on Instagram. What role do social networks play in your communications strategy?

84% of users say they have looked at a travel influencer's profile before choosing a destination (Kolsquare 2023). When you consider that there are over 140 billion views on TikTok on the same theme, it doesn't leave you indifferent to the power of social networks and the impact they can have in our awareness-raising, and therefore communication, strategy. Through our networks, we are committed to transmitting, educating, animating and inspiring our audiences around a different vision of tourism. A quest for aesthetics, a desire for off-the-beaten-track discoveries, a few hidden addresses, a story from a local expert that arouses curiosity. Our various formats tend to conjure up new imaginations and project our audiences into their travels of tomorrow.

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