He began his career at a time marking the end of the travel agencies’ golden age.
In 2000, Damien Marx was recruited as a web project manager at Coface, the French export credit company. At that time, the Internet ran through dial-up modems that sang a small tune which the first geeks have not forgotten.
Only 14% of the French population had access to what would become the revolution of this new century. Travel agents watched with skepticism as these teenagers transformed their parents’ garages into start-ups.
“I graduated at the moment of Internet’s explosion. I went to engineering school, then spent fifteen years in a subsidiary of Banque Populaire, where I started as a developer, before becoming IT manager and leading large teams.
At the same time, I created a sports social network to find partners for tennis matches. In fact, it was a bit like Facebook—you had your friends whom you met on the courts.
It arrived too early; there weren’t enough Internet users“, recalls Damien Marx.
This tennis Facebook became the LinkedIn of the yellow ball, after organizing a Lyon-based decision-makers tournament, but in 2003 Tennis Défi—its real name—shuts down its servers.
Be that as it may, this first initiative, far from a large group, planted a seed in the head of the IT manager. He wants to give more meaning to his daily life and to leave a field where he does not truly thrive.
To read : When Rothko and Zao Wou‑Ki reveal the invisible in travel according to Damien Marx
In 2000, Damien Marx was recruited as a web project manager at Coface, the French export credit company. At that time, the Internet ran through dial-up modems that sang a small tune which the first geeks have not forgotten.
Only 14% of the French population had access to what would become the revolution of this new century. Travel agents watched with skepticism as these teenagers transformed their parents’ garages into start-ups.
“I graduated at the moment of Internet’s explosion. I went to engineering school, then spent fifteen years in a subsidiary of Banque Populaire, where I started as a developer, before becoming IT manager and leading large teams.
At the same time, I created a sports social network to find partners for tennis matches. In fact, it was a bit like Facebook—you had your friends whom you met on the courts.
It arrived too early; there weren’t enough Internet users“, recalls Damien Marx.
This tennis Facebook became the LinkedIn of the yellow ball, after organizing a Lyon-based decision-makers tournament, but in 2003 Tennis Défi—its real name—shuts down its servers.
Be that as it may, this first initiative, far from a large group, planted a seed in the head of the IT manager. He wants to give more meaning to his daily life and to leave a field where he does not truly thrive.
To read : When Rothko and Zao Wou‑Ki reveal the invisible in travel according to Damien Marx
Partir.com: a search engine for… destinations
He takes advantage of Coface’s restructuring to regain his freedom.
We are in the mid-2010s, travel explodes online, yet with some gaps.
“I start from the observation that, ultimately, organizing a trip is complicated. There was a need and I was passionate about this sector.
At that time, searches were limited to two criteria, destination and date. Yet traveling is much more complex. There are already the composition of participants—family, couple, etc.—, activities, the temperature or the expected weather. Do I want to go swimming?, etc.
I then set out to create a destination search engine. There were nearly 50 criteria to make one’s choice“, he explains.
From this premise, Partir.com was born.
The platform evolves month by month and through the founder’s developments. Starting from the lean startup approach—advances by iterations—he always adds more content and services for Internet users.
Quite quickly, the site carves out a place alongside players such as Génération Voyage or Le Routard. Because travel has numerous virtues. It can be an escape, a liberating moment, a step of redemption, or the journey that changes a life by allowing you to meet the person who will share part of your path.
For Damien Marx, it mainly allowed him to find… his business model.
We are in the mid-2010s, travel explodes online, yet with some gaps.
“I start from the observation that, ultimately, organizing a trip is complicated. There was a need and I was passionate about this sector.
At that time, searches were limited to two criteria, destination and date. Yet traveling is much more complex. There are already the composition of participants—family, couple, etc.—, activities, the temperature or the expected weather. Do I want to go swimming?, etc.
I then set out to create a destination search engine. There were nearly 50 criteria to make one’s choice“, he explains.
From this premise, Partir.com was born.
The platform evolves month by month and through the founder’s developments. Starting from the lean startup approach—advances by iterations—he always adds more content and services for Internet users.
Quite quickly, the site carves out a place alongside players such as Génération Voyage or Le Routard. Because travel has numerous virtues. It can be an escape, a liberating moment, a step of redemption, or the journey that changes a life by allowing you to meet the person who will share part of your path.
For Damien Marx, it mainly allowed him to find… his business model.
Partir.com: a business model found… during a trip!
“Back then, with my ex-partner, we went to Sri Lanka. I had found the contact of a local guide somewhere on a forum. We thus found ourselves at an airport in Sri Lanka with my two five-year-old sons, waiting for a person I had simply emailed.
After a moment of doubt, the experience was incredible; it resembled what Evaneos does today“, recalls Damien Marx.
A few weeks later, with memories in disarray, the Lyon family returns home. And the leader’s vision evolves: “the guides, the receptive operators, on the other side of the world, cannot always have a website or market in France. At the same time, Partir.com’s clients wanted to go directly,” he confides.
The site then becomes a genuine millefeuille, with bricks added one atop another.
It is at once a source of inspiration, a travel guide, a comparison tool, and a platform for direct connections between travelers and tourism professionals, whether receptive operators, tour operators, travel agents, etc.
“We have three pillars: I get inspired, I get informed and I compare. I start from travelers’ needs, offer a tool or a service, then adjust and improve things.
This method allowed me to work on SEO, because SEO is ultimately about answering users’ search intents and shaping how to deliver that answer.
The aim was therefore to provide a reliable response, with a quick and visual reading, all on an easy-to-use site“, continues him.
To read : Dubai: “There exists a striking contrast between the situation and life going on” (Video)
After a moment of doubt, the experience was incredible; it resembled what Evaneos does today“, recalls Damien Marx.
A few weeks later, with memories in disarray, the Lyon family returns home. And the leader’s vision evolves: “the guides, the receptive operators, on the other side of the world, cannot always have a website or market in France. At the same time, Partir.com’s clients wanted to go directly,” he confides.
The site then becomes a genuine millefeuille, with bricks added one atop another.
It is at once a source of inspiration, a travel guide, a comparison tool, and a platform for direct connections between travelers and tourism professionals, whether receptive operators, tour operators, travel agents, etc.
“We have three pillars: I get inspired, I get informed and I compare. I start from travelers’ needs, offer a tool or a service, then adjust and improve things.
This method allowed me to work on SEO, because SEO is ultimately about answering users’ search intents and shaping how to deliver that answer.
The aim was therefore to provide a reliable response, with a quick and visual reading, all on an easy-to-use site“, continues him.
To read : Dubai: “There exists a striking contrast between the situation and life going on” (Video)
Partir.com allows the creation of tailor-made trips (also for travel agents)
Through these two years under unemployment benefits, Damien Marx polishes and develops his site, which quickly becomes a national reference.
“With my savings, I bought the domain name, which belonged to someone who posted travel photos in Argentina. It took me two years and a lot of work for it to take off. Then I was able to create jobs, employing nearly 50 journalists.
I continued working with Maéva Hugot, for 7 years now; she handles communication, video and card creation, but also relations with agencies and content improvement.
These two years of unemployment were quite profitable for the State“, testifies this avid reader of TourMaG.com, in a context of questioning social gains.
The site finds a good place on Google, the audience is there. The growth is steady, approaching 10 million visitors per year.
Today, the arrival of AI is still no obstacle to this. It is even more a lever for development.
“Thanks to the work of our editors, we offer only verified information, and we add a layer of tools that AI does not have.
And while ChatGPT provides textual responses, we try to be more visual, to offer maps and infographics, so as not to compete head-to-head with AI. For now, the audience is slightly increasing, even if I expect to lose some on easy queries.
Before, I developed everything by myself. Now, I rely on AI. I have become a project manager who oversees the work of five or six virtual developers who are AI agents. The editors also have a supervisory role over content generated by large language models“, explains Damien Marx.
“With my savings, I bought the domain name, which belonged to someone who posted travel photos in Argentina. It took me two years and a lot of work for it to take off. Then I was able to create jobs, employing nearly 50 journalists.
I continued working with Maéva Hugot, for 7 years now; she handles communication, video and card creation, but also relations with agencies and content improvement.
These two years of unemployment were quite profitable for the State“, testifies this avid reader of TourMaG.com, in a context of questioning social gains.
The site finds a good place on Google, the audience is there. The growth is steady, approaching 10 million visitors per year.
Today, the arrival of AI is still no obstacle to this. It is even more a lever for development.
“Thanks to the work of our editors, we offer only verified information, and we add a layer of tools that AI does not have.
And while ChatGPT provides textual responses, we try to be more visual, to offer maps and infographics, so as not to compete head-to-head with AI. For now, the audience is slightly increasing, even if I expect to lose some on easy queries.
Before, I developed everything by myself. Now, I rely on AI. I have become a project manager who oversees the work of five or six virtual developers who are AI agents. The editors also have a supervisory role over content generated by large language models“, explains Damien Marx.
Partir.com: facing AI, the platform will publish paper guides…
He continues: ““Over all these years, the most notable evolution is the leap in personalization.
We have integrated a planner to create itineraries based on travelers’ desires and the database of our journalists, plus profile management. It’s new, but it allows us to better know travelers and retain their searches.
Now, it is really possible to create a tailor-made trip. It is completely free. I would like to meet travel agencies and propose this tool to them“, reveals the founder of Partir.com.
The tool is designed to be very ergonomic and easy to use. In just a few clicks, it can generate an itinerary that cross-references journalists’ data. It will also aim to push partner offers for destinations chosen by travelers.
It’s not all, because in the face of the risk that AI represents, Partir.com is building an ecosystem to assert its brand.
During Covid, a YouTube channel was created.
The images are then selected from video libraries, assembled by an editor, and accompanied by narration by a voice actress. The channel earns a respectable following, with 5,000 hours of viewing and 100,000 views per month.
This notoriety is at the heart of the entrepreneur’s concerns. After YouTube, the Lyonnais wants Partir.com to go beyond screens.
“”I try to always stay one step ahead. We will release a paper guide called Atlas of Travel Ideas. I would also like to create guides with “new perspectives,” where the traveler learns to look, to feel differently, becomes an actor of the journey and better understands things.
We have integrated a planner to create itineraries based on travelers’ desires and the database of our journalists, plus profile management. It’s new, but it allows us to better know travelers and retain their searches.
Now, it is really possible to create a tailor-made trip. It is completely free. I would like to meet travel agencies and propose this tool to them“, reveals the founder of Partir.com.
The tool is designed to be very ergonomic and easy to use. In just a few clicks, it can generate an itinerary that cross-references journalists’ data. It will also aim to push partner offers for destinations chosen by travelers.
It’s not all, because in the face of the risk that AI represents, Partir.com is building an ecosystem to assert its brand.
During Covid, a YouTube channel was created.
The images are then selected from video libraries, assembled by an editor, and accompanied by narration by a voice actress. The channel earns a respectable following, with 5,000 hours of viewing and 100,000 views per month.
This notoriety is at the heart of the entrepreneur’s concerns. After YouTube, the Lyonnais wants Partir.com to go beyond screens.
“”I try to always stay one step ahead. We will release a paper guide called Atlas of Travel Ideas. I would also like to create guides with “new perspectives,” where the traveler learns to look, to feel differently, becomes an actor of the journey and better understands things.
With AI, the main risk is a loss of trust from users, so I want to develop the brand and trust. And, consequently, be better ranked on Google and AI,” concludes Damien Marx.
In the end, the new world and the old are not that disconnected.
