[Startup Article] Teletravel : the future of travelling

Every big upheaval comes along with major changes. These changes may be technological, social or conceptual. The health crisis that we are living through has two side effects that were unimaginable two years ago: shutting down travel and the almost generalised recourse to teleworking.

Don't wait for your holidays to go travelling! What if teleworking were to open up a new outlook for tourist travel?

Is this an opportunity to travel for longer, during the off season and to spend more time meeting local people?

The birth of the project

The last few months have been a good time for thinking and we decided to study the issues related to tourism and how to fix them.

We made several observations:

Some destinations suffer from over-tourism in high season

The environmental impact of tourism

The uneven distribution of the income from tourism around the world

Journeys that are too fast and too short to have the time to really feel like you are somewhere else and to appreciate the culture.

These different observations led us to rethink tourism to try to get back to the essentials of travelling. What is the ultimate aim of an experience away from home? Meeting people, talking, sharing discovering, learning… As an open-minded operator, Best Of Tours wanted to assist with these changes and use its expertise to offer the future of travelling.

Moreover, if the last few months have taught us anything, it is that the corporate world was able to adapt to the health constraints related to the COVID-19 epidemic by rethinking how it worked, by limiting how much its employees travel and by reducing the time they spent at the office. This was a collective realisation that should increase the pace of the generalisation of teleworking in many companies.

Travelling without affecting your professional life

Teletravel® offers the opportunity to enjoy a unique immersive experience thanks to the practice of teleworking. Travelling for longer, meeting local people, growing as a person, discovering a culture, learning a language...

There is no longer a need to choose between working and travelling. We want to generalise the practice of teleworking away from home. Offering yourself a break of a few weeks, or even a few months to discover a region, a country or a new culture. And all of that, without having to take a break from your career.

Today, all you need to be able to work is a computer and a Wi-Fi connection. And the whole world becomes your office...

Definition of Teletravel

Teletravel® means travelling, encounters and learning in total immersion. Teleworking becomes an opportunity to offer yourself this experience because of the greater flexibility.

Teletravel® is different from Bleisure (business+leisure) as the latter is when an employee takes advantage of business travel to offer themselves some leisure time at a destination. Nor is it a Workation (work+vacation) as it is not about the ‘teletraveler’ taking a holiday but a journey with a truly immersive experience.

How can the Teletravel® concept be transformed into a tourist product for a clientele of demanding travellers? In view of the current trends for bookings, bespoke products and online platforms seems to suit the vast majority of customers.

One expertise, two possibilities

1 - The bespoke product

We offer assistance from A to Z for all Teletravel® requests.

The product is made up of a basic package (accommodation with Wi-Fi, greeting by a local person, a mobile application and travel insurance). We can add different additional services such as: legal advice on working, encounters with professionals, excursions, language courses, transportation, etc.

2 - A platform: MY TELETRAVEL

MY TELETRAVEL* is a platform for booking specialised Teletravel® accommodation. A selection of accommodation that is suited to the purpose of teleworking offering good rates for long stays. Gites, apartments, camp sites and many other types of accommodation are opening their doors to the travellers of tomorrow.

What is the aim? Automating the approach for teletravelers and assisting them with our expertise. On the platform there will be access to different tools that will enable them to make the most of their experience:

YOUR LOCAL EYE puts the traveller in contact with locals to enjoy the attractions of the chosen destination. Activities, restaurants, excursions, accommodation and trips will be available on the platform. A tool that promotes local players to intensify the immersive and authentic Teletravel® experience.

Finally, to assist the teletraveler with their teleworking in situ, we have created MY DESK AWAY. This is a platform that puts teleworkers in contact with infrastructures (hotels, restaurants, bars, camp-sites, etc.). Searching for places for teleworking will now be made easier by this tool, a VIP experience for users with access to advantages.

Recently, we have lived through what is perhaps the first truly global event and nobody can foresee the consequences that this health crisis will have on our behaviour.

The sudden shutdown made us rethink our relationship with travel and also with work. The temptation to shut yourself off must not be the only alternative to a return to “normal” and a type of tourism that does not care about the environment or local populations. Giving meaning to your work, feeling yourself progressing on a professional level and having a good work-life balance were already major needs before the crisis, they will probably become imperatives in the future.

Our ambition with Teletravel is to contribute to building a world that is aware of the climate emergency, the importance of well-being at work and where encounters do not have a negative impact on the destinations visited.