Responsible tourism: serving local communities and travellers

SNCF Connect is committed to sustainable tourism by combining sustainable mobility, tourist appeal and data in its operations, in partnership with Atout France and France's regional tourist boards.

Why is it crucial to relieve congestion in certain tourist regions?

Overtourism poses real problems in terms of ecological footprint, infrastructure saturation and sometimes rejection of tourists by local communities. Meanwhile, many magnificent regions remain little visited at certain times of the year. Reducing congestion in overcrowded areas is both a response to an ecological challenge and a way of better distributing tourist flows and their economic spin-offs. At SNCF Connect & Tech, with our digital mobility service SNCF Connect, we are taking concrete action to disperse passenger flows in time and space by promoting destinations accessible by train during off-peak periods.

What is SNCF Connect & Tech's role in the sustainable tourism ecosystem?

SNCF Connect & Tech's purpose is to innovate to make sustainable mobility accessible to all. The role of SNCF Connect & Tech is multifaceted and may differ depending on the digital solutions and services developed with Tesmo or SNCF Connect. As far as our BtoC brand SNCF Connect is concerned, we are a digital service for sustainable mobility. Our mission is to continually enrich our catalogue of travel offers and make them visible, accessible and simple for our customers. We do this by offering final destination travel solutions - not just station-to-station - by integrating bus, metro and tramway services into our route search (even going so far as to sell urban transport tickets for these networks), or by selling tourist passes offering museum + transport packages on our platform. And we go even further, with targeted communication campaigns, booking modules that can be integrated into our partners' websites (tourist offices, hotel groups, etc.), and data analysis that enables us to identify the right audiences, the right moments, and the right messages to encourage responsible travel.

What initiatives are in place?

In partnership with Atout France and regional tourist boards, such as the Côte d'Azur, Sud and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, we develop communication tools to promote destinations outside peak periods (out of summer for the coast and out of winter for the mountains): city breaks outside school holidays, mountains in the summer, the seaside in spring... The idea is to help targeted consumers discover or rediscover these places, thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the travel audience.

We have also developed a range of novel approaches, using media channels in particular to showcase all-inclusive stays and promotions on destination activities when travelling by train (for example. with the Normandy Region or the CMN national monuments centre). And always with engaging visuals, inspiring editorial content and a multi-channel media network.

How does data help you to better direct tourist flows?

Our strength lies in having an audience that is 100% intending to travel, i.e. already thinking about or preparing a trip. Thanks to our databricks and insights, we are able to analyse behaviours, searched destinations, travel urges, and more... This is exclusive, highly granular data, which we use with our partners to target communications and refine campaigns to maximise our performance. We then adapt our messages, visuals and tools (display, newsletters, social networks, etc.) to reach the right audience, at the right time. For example, our latest campaign with Atout France generated a huge amount of interaction on networks, including enthusiastic comments, the desire to rediscover a destination... Engagement is an excellent performance indicator.

What do you think tourism in France will look like in the future?

It will be more responsible, more streamlined, more local. We're already seeing signs of a transition, with the French now looking for shorter, closer, more sustainable holidays. And train travel is at the heart of this transition. Technology, for its part, must facilitate this experience: booking a journey, accessing a city pass, planning a door-to-door journey... Our role is to guarantee this continuity of service. And, above all, to foster the desire for sustainable travel by working closely with local authorities, tour operators and institutions. Together, we can build a smarter, more balanced tourism.