Philippe: at the very start of an Immersion Australe
A brand-new agency, a TOOGO rollout just getting started: the story of a very first chapter — that of Philippe, founder of Immersion Australe on Réunion Island.
An agency that has only just been born, a TOOGO rollout that is barely getting started: after DMCs established for years, here is the story of a very first chapter. That of Philippe, who founded Immersion Australe on Réunion Island, and who is today building his agency and his tools at the same time.
Originally from the Gers region of France, Philippe has nearly 20 years of experience in communication, economic development and events. He discovered Réunion in 2009, during a family trip - an encounter that would prove decisive. He has now lived there for almost six years, and it is on this island that he chose to launch Immersion Australe, a young agency built around trips with a single thread running through them: a theme, a passion, an encounter, or a combination of experiences.
The entire TOOGO team wishes to congratulate Philippe on the launch of this new entrepreneurial adventure, and will stand by his side to support him. This is, in fact, one of the strengths we like to highlight: at TOOGO, we come from the world of DMCs ourselves, which allows us to understand from the inside the realities of an inbound agency - whether brand new, like Immersion Australe, or established for many years.
His journey & Immersion Australe
Philippe, can you introduce yourself in a few words and tell us about your journey?
I'm 41 and I have nearly 20 years of experience in communication, economic development and events.
Originally from the Gers, I discovered Réunion in 2009, during a family trip. That first encounter with the island was decisive and gradually created a very strong bond with this place. I have now spent almost six years of my life here, and Réunion now holds a central place in my journey, both personal and professional.
These different experiences allowed me to develop a particular interest in places, their identity, the people who shape them and the way they can be discovered differently.
How did the idea for Immersion Australe come about, and what kind of trips do you want to offer through the agency?
With Immersion Australe, I wanted to put this experience at the service of a more personal project, centred on travel, encounters and the discovery of places.
The idea started from a fairly simple observation: you can visit a place without really living it. On Réunion in particular, people think a lot about the landscapes and the must-sees, whereas there is also an incredible wealth in the encounters, the know-how, the culture, the sport, the food and even well-being.
Immersion Australe was born from the desire to create trips built around a single thread: a theme, a passion, an encounter or a combination of experiences.
The goal is to offer both ready-imagined immersions and fully customisable trips, for people from Réunion as much as for travellers coming from elsewhere.
Starting a business is a real adventure: what made you want to take the plunge?
After my various professional experiences, I wanted to build a project that matched my aspirations and my vision more closely.
Entrepreneurship allows that freedom: to start from an idea, test it against the field, let it evolve and gradually build something that resembles you.
It is of course a demanding adventure, with a lot of self-questioning, but that is also what makes it particularly stimulating. Immersion Australe is still young and the project keeps growing richer with every encounter.
TOOGO & him
Why did you choose TOOGO to support Immersion Australe from the very start?
When you create an agency, you quickly realise that you need to be able to structure an enormous amount of information: the services, the suppliers, the rates, the programmes, the quotes, the client files...
So I was looking for a tool that could support me from the outset, but also evolve with the agency.
What particularly interested me about TOOGO is precisely that the tool is constantly evolving, that it keeps growing and that it seeks to adapt to the changes in the sector and to the needs of professionals.
I was also reassured by the fact that the TOOGO team is made up of people who genuinely know the tourism sector and the challenges of inbound agencies.
Even though your implementation is only just beginning, what won you over or convinced you straight away about the tool?
What won me over quickly was, first of all, the ability to centralise the different components of a trip in a single environment.
When you build tailor-made trips or programmes involving many services, it can quickly become complex. Being able to structure your products, build your programmes, manage your quotes and gradually automate part of the administrative work is therefore a real advantage.
I also really appreciate the fact that the tool is in permanent evolution. Uses change, travellers' expectations change, and so do the needs of professionals. So it is reassuring to choose a solution that does not seem fixed and that keeps developing.
And regarding the TOOGO team, what made the difference in your choice, and what are your first impressions of the support?
The exchange with Lucie was particularly pleasant and clearly counted in my decision.
Beyond the presentation of the application, I hugely appreciated that she took the time to understand Immersion Australe and to genuinely discuss my project. She gave me several very relevant and useful pieces of advice, including on subjects that went beyond the direct use of TOOGO.
This is something I found quite revealing of the team's approach. You can feel that you are talking with people who know the sector well and who understand the challenges of an inbound agency.
For a structure that is just starting out, this quality of listening and support is particularly important.
What do you mainly expect from TOOGO to help you develop and structure Immersion Australe in the months and years to come?
I mainly expect TOOGO to help me build a solid organisation right from the start.
Today, I am still in a phase where I am developing my offers, my partnerships and the different trip formats. In time, the goal is to be able to easily manage tailor-made requests, programmes, quotes and the whole of production, while keeping a lot of flexibility.
I also expect TOOGO to keep evolving with the needs of the sector. If Immersion Australe develops as I hope, it is important for me to be able to rely on a tool that evolves too and that can support this growth over time.
And above all, the goal is to save time on the organisational and administrative side so I can devote more of it to what really is the heart of Immersion Australe: imagining experiences, meeting partners and creating trips that let people live places from the inside.
