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TourMaG – In a few words, what is TravelAssist for?

Tristan Daube : TravelAssist.io is an embedded services offering for tour operators. It helps them support their clients from the day before departure through to their return, notably by integrating all travel documents.

The objective is to enable operators to maintain a connection with their clients throughout the stay.

TourMaG – So you get involved from the day before departure?

Tristan Daube : Yes. We start from the principle that our clients should be able to focus on their core activity, especially on selling, and not have to manage the stress linked to their clients’ travel.

From the day before departure, we answer all traveler inquiries. They may have questions about the airport, the flight, their passport, luggage… They are often stressed as departure approaches.

Our role is to ensure the continuity of the travel agent, in a white-label arrangement. We are ourselves travel operators. We therefore aim to share this full responsibility so that operators can rely on us and focus on what is most important: guiding their clients before the sale.

TourMaG – concretely, how does a traveler contact your teams?

Tristan Daube : He does not call us directly. We provide him with an application. For some large accounts, it is entirely white-labeled.

For others, we have created our own brand, Genius Travel, available on the various app stores.

We are currently connected to several systems, notably Orchestra, MB3M or Viacsoft. This simplifies service integration since we receive all the travel information, including the documents the traveler will find in the app.

Seven days before departure, the traveler receives a message indicating that they can access all of these elements. They enter the app but remain in contact with their travel agent, as our agents become accessible 24 hours before departure.

Usually, the first thing we do is assist them with checking in for their flight.

TourMaG – And when a problem arises during the trip, how far does your intervention capability extend?

Tristan Daube : In theory, we have the dossier in hand. But we are not the ones who produced it. We have access to the various stakeholders and, in some cases, to all technical actions.

Our objective is simple: since a client has been entrusted to us, we must make sure they have a good vacation.

To do this, we use all the means provided by our client, but also our expertise and our analytical capacity to meet the traveler’s expectations, whatever the situation.

TourMaG – Take the example of a flight cancellation. What can you do concretely?

Tristan Daube : The idea is to give the traveler some tips in the face of the on-board supervisor. In this kind of situation, every minute counts.

We will try to provide all the information necessary so they can quickly defend their case with the supervisor, like other travelers facing a transport disruption or a technical incident.

Very often, the supervisor explains that there are no flights before the following evening. On our side, we will check possibilities with the airline, including seats still available, before even telling the traveler that it is not possible.

We can sometimes go as far as the sales code, which allows us to understand that we have already identified solutions.

Of course, this is also done in consultation with the client, because several alternatives may be feasible. There are also no-show situations. In that case, the responsibility falls on the traveler and we will accompany them to find the best way to continue their journey.

The objective remains the same: to allow them to live their dream and to enjoy their vacation as calmly as possible.

TourMaG – Another situation: a traveler arrives at a hotel that does not match what they thought they had booked. How do you intervene?

Tristan Daube : The first thing is to understand precisely what is happening: what is the disappointment and why is the client disappointed?

We then contact the hotel and share the client’s disappointment. Some travelers have difficulty going directly to the hotel to express their issue.

We try to bring sense to the situation. We also know the hosteliers’ challenges: their interest is obviously to have the rooms occupied. It is therefore necessary to try to reconcile all these elements.

Very often, it is about finding a consensus: access to the spa, a cocktail, a goodwill gesture or another service.

But some situations require more significant measures. We recently had a case where a hotel clearly had not made the investments expected by our client. The traveler sent us photos that clearly showed the situation.

Our teams spoke with the host, the DMC and our client. In one hour and a half, we found a solution together.

That same evening, before 10 p.m., the clients were relocated to another hotel. This is exactly TravelAssist’s role: to help the traveler regain their smile quickly and refocus on their vacation.

TourMaG – Beyond problems, you also handle softer requests?

Tristan Daube : Yes. It is a significant part of our activity.

Travelers can ask us to help find a good restaurant, organize an activity, or prepare a surprise. When a family tells us it’s their daughter’s birthday, for example, our teams will wish her a happy birthday.

We also assist with marriage proposals, small daily surprises, or activities the traveler might not have dared to do alone.

It is a way to extend the travel agent’s role. The agent advised the client beforehand and planned the trip. We are here to advise and interact immediately when something happens, whether it is a problem or, on the contrary, a happy occasion.

TourMaG – Do you observe that rapid handling reduces the scale of disputes?

Tristan Daube : It is primarily a matter of transparency and intellectual honesty.

When a professional is ready to rethink, listens to their client, and tries to give meaning to a situation, that changes a lot. Travel also carries contingencies that are not attributable to either the producer or the distributor.

Our role is to accompany the traveler when they leave home and embark on an adventure.

We observe two things. First, nine times out of ten, when there is dissatisfaction upon arrival and there is no interaction, it will escalate throughout the trip.

All week long, the traveler and possibly their family will dwell on the problem, which can spoil their vacation.

Our objective is to immediately address the root causes, to exchange with the traveler, and to find a solution that lets them think about the days ahead rather than the problem they just encountered.

More than 70% of travelers who contact us about a disappointment stay in touch to discuss how to improve their trip.

It’s very interesting because it means we have given meaning, found a solution, and they subsequently see the value of having a travel companion who can assist them daily.

TourMaG – What does this rise of concierge services reveal about market evolution?

Tristan Daube : The world of travel is entering into a customer relationship. The customer strategy is becoming a real topic.

The acquisition cost is, of course, an important element. The travel market is maturing. We see several professionals trying to consolidate the market, and, at the same time, each is trying to win customers who travel far and have substantial budgets, because that is where the value lies.

The challenge is also to make sure that tomorrow’s customers understand that we take care of them and offer them a different way to travel, by limiting contingencies and proposing new services.

In the end, we provide a different experience and a different relationship.

TourMaG – What is TravelAssist’s profile of operators who work with you?

Tristan Daube : All travel operators can potentially be our clients.

We work with large groups like TUI, across different travel types, and with mass-market players like Carrefour Voyages, where we support travelers on specific Carrefour offerings.

We also work directly with more than 600 individual agencies in France, whether independent or part of a network.

We collaborate with several tour operators who want to better understand the travelers of tomorrow and who recognize the importance of service.

Tomorrow, service will make the difference. When a brand is attached to a trip, it should convey a positive image and inspire travel, while also bringing seriousness and professionalism.

TourMaG – What is TravelAssist’s cost for an operator?

Tristan Daube : On average, TravelAssist ranges from 4 to 5 euros per day per file. So, excluding taxes, you should expect between 30 and 35 euros, with a maximum around 40 euros for a week of travel.

On average, an agency earns between 1.56 and 1.58 margin.

The business leaders then decide how they want to integrate this service. Some choose to offer it, even if it is reintegrated one way or another into the file price. Others offer it as an option and highlight it.

We work notably with a well-known online retailer specializing in last-minute offers that presents our service as an optional feature for one euro, even though it is already included in the price.

This allows the client to feel they paid for the service and thus to use it. It also lets them discover an experience they didn’t know before.

TourMaG – Are your concierges exclusively human? How do you work with AI?

Tristan Daube : Artificial intelligence is inherently present in all of TravelAssist’s technical infrastructures, but no one other than a human interacts with the traveler.

This seems extremely important. Travel is produced by humans, experienced by humans, and we must therefore accompany travelers with a human interlocutor capable of patience, discernment, and adding meaning to a situation.

Our concierge teams are available 24/7. On average, we respond to more than 90% of inquiries in under a minute.

All the technology exists to make our teams more expert, stronger, and more efficient.

One can imagine Travel Assist as a team that constantly supports the traveler in the background. We are present on the client’s brand, and we do everything to be attentive, to limit difficulties, and to allow travelers to enjoy their vacations.

TourMaG – What is your assessment of 2026, a challenging year for operators?

Tristan Daube : 2026 was also a challenging year for us, with a somewhat paradoxical situation.

TravelAssist evolves each year, and we will probably end with revenue more than 70% higher than last year, especially because new major accounts joined us.

But if we look at all of our clients, we have recorded a significant shortfall versus our February forecasts, prior to the problems in the Middle East.

We are around 35 to 40% below the projections we had set.

The arrival of large accounts thus helps to greatly mitigate this impact. We had expected a much more active year, though.

TourMaG – What are your ambitions for 2027?

Tristan Daube : We have many projects. We are currently in talks with numerous market players who are increasingly interested in the services we offer.

We are also bringing more expertise through our tools, which allow us to perform analyses and audits across the entire production chain. We are becoming more effective in how we interact with travelers.

These three pillars enable us to adapt our services to very large volumes and to adopt an industrial approach at an international scale.

Next year will be dedicated notably to internationalization. We are preparing tests in the United States and we are in discussions with a major tour operator in Spain. Pilots are currently underway.

We hope they will accelerate a development that has been less visible than expected this year.

We remain, of course, attentive to the economic and political context. A presidential election year is always particular: consumers may wonder whether they will go on vacation or not.

But we perhaps have a bit more luck than others because TravelAssist is becoming more known. Our teams work very well and our tools are evolving.

Today we win new clients more through word-of-mouth than through marketing budgets.