Tourism and AI: adapting without losing what truly matters
An interview with Mickaël Rimbault, founder and CEO of Nortrip, an agency specialized in tailor-made trips to the Nordic countries. Thirty years after the Internet, AI is once again transforming the profession — but for him, people must remain at the heart of the strategy.
The word from the tribe — an interview with Mickaël Rimbault, founder and CEO of Nortrip.
To begin with, could you tell us about your background and the creation of your agency, Nortrip?
Hello. I am the founder of Nortrip, an agency specialized in tailor-made trips to Nordic countries. I have nearly 20 years of experience working for destination management companies, and in 2018 I decided to create my own agency.
The main idea was to offer authentic experiences for individual travelers.
What is your view of the current travel market in France?
It is a constantly evolving market. Thirty years ago, the arrival of the Internet suggested the end of travel agencies. Today, we are facing the emergence of artificial intelligence, which will once again deeply transform the sector.
As business leaders, we absolutely must adapt to these new ways of accessing information and designing trips independently. We therefore also need to learn how to use AI wisely in our professional environment.
How do you perceive the arrival of AI in your sector?
For me, people must remain at the heart of our strategy. That is where the true added value of an agency lies.
AI is becoming increasingly powerful, but in my opinion, it is still not capable of personalizing a trip as closely to clients' wishes as a human expert would. What truly makes the difference is having specialists who demonstrate discernment and understanding, because every traveler is unique.
You use the Toogo software on a daily basis. What are the advantages of this tool for your team?
Centralization within Toogo is crucial for responsiveness, as it allows all stages of trip management to be gathered within one single space.
This unique structure offers several operational advantages:
Complete sales cycle management. The team can create quotations, design travel proposals, manage bookings, and produce travel booklets without changing tools.
Time-saving. By avoiding information fragmentation, the software makes work faster and easier.
Adaptation to current market demands. In a constantly evolving market, having a high-performance tool that centralizes data is essential to respond quickly to customer expectations.
How do you imagine the evolution of the software in the future?
Toogo must remain open in order to use all existing technological tools. It must also be able to address pricing challenges by offering a high-performance and automated pricing management tool (negotiated and dynamic rates).
The objective is to make back-office tasks more efficient and faster. By automating or simplifying certain tasks through new technologies, advisors can focus more on customer relationships and provide what AI will never be able to offer.
Mickaël Rimbault
CEO – Sales & Operations Manager
Nortrip +33 6 45 43 47 72