CONCEPT By our own experience : the difficulty of finding a tour guide on the french territory available for a quick visit or a tailor made one, we decided in late 2007 to create a unique national database in the form of a central booking up direct.
This site, dedicated to professionals of the travel industry, is accessible only by obtaining an identification code and password. To apply for your access code thank you click here. The site allows those who have access, to find IN REAL TIME professionals available throughout France.
DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT The company AKOPSO proposes guided tours throughout FRANCE, thanks to a real-time access to the planning of tour guides 24/7! This is a free central booking engine dedicated to professionals of the travel industry. You will find proposals of excursions of 1 day maximum.
To see our "PRESS BOOK", thank you to CLICK HERE !
PHILOSOPHY OF THE CONCEPT
We are the only one to guarantee you real-time availability of tour guides calendar availability for a guided visit, with a list of visits updated weekly at a very competitive price!
SAFETY OF CONCEPT
The tour guides and speakers on the site are all graduates. We do the recruitment of professionals on rigorous criteria of seriousness and competence. The performance evaluation is constant.
OUR MOTTO : FLEXIBILITY - RAPIDITY - SERENITY Knowing that a satisfied customer is the best possible publicity, and the greatest pride that we can have, we always seek to better respond to your expectations and reflect the faster any dissatisfaction. The diversity of demands is a challenge to innovate in response to expectations in the field of cultural and tourist sites. We integrate the most intelligently possible suggestions that you will wish to make to us.
AKOPSO'S TEAM
Marie-Christine CHARNIER / Co-founder / mcc@akopso.com After 13 years spent in the travel industry and tour operating Marie-Christine decided to use his experience to "serve" AKOPSO.
Former "Ad-hoc" groups purchasing Europe manager in Boscolo Tours (leader for Italian travel groups in the outgoing business), Marie-Christine was in charge of growth and development, particularly control purchases on hotels, transportation, restaurants, excursions and guides/tour leaders in countries such as France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland.
She was also responsible for the groups and individual assistance at Aliantour Paris for nearly 4 years. These skills have enabled her to feel the importance of the tourists "welcoming" : the serious and permanent investment required, and also the attentiveness to expectations and the need to anticipate the needs. Bringing her dual professional experience in Incoming and Outgoing, Marie-Christine find in the AKOPSO project consistency to harness all her knowledge of the environment and her passion for travel and hospitality.
Marie-Christine is 39 years old, she likes to travel around the world and discover new countries and cultures. From Italy, where she spent her childhood, she kept the feeling of escapism and understands the need to travel that inspire us all and different cultures. She also understood the importance of hospitality in the assessment of a stay. It is not uncommon in summer to see her in the Mediterranean Sea with her palms and bottles. She is inexhaustible on pasta and seafood cooking… Her studies of art history have given her a sense of history and heritage, opening key of others and the world, she wants to share …
Joris Sigot / Co-founder / joris@akopso.com The E-tourism, negotiation and a little of tour leading gave to Joris a complete profile to confront the challenges of the AKOPSO's adventure.
He began his career in 2001 as tour leader in the USA and Canada at "Club Aventures". In 2002, he joined Hotels.com in Paris, where he held the position of Hotel Contract Manager France. This is his first real experience in the e-business world. For a year he takes the taste of commerce and becomes aware of a booming sector, online business ! During 2003, with 70 other people, he joined the "war" machine Expedia, that had bought Hotels.com. Then, he develops his powers of "bargaining" as purchasing manager for the "hotel" product.
To complete his experience in negotiation, Joris went to join the Incoming France team in the second largest French event company, the Public System. As consultant for the French territory, management linked to the diversity of customers worldwide, enables him shortly afterwards, to validate a dual experience, both in the field of e-tourism, and the design of trips for tourists.
Joris has in the AKOPSO's project, the possibility to let express what he thinks about e-distribution, to offer to the Internet users an additional option to create his own trip by filling this niche untapped!
Joris likes to travel so spartan, but always with a minimum of comfort ! Joris is 34 years old.
TOUR GUIDES' ADVANTAGE
AKOPSO is the first company to unify under a single banner and
nationally, tour guides, lecturers, tour leaders and assistants. AKOPSO has a
vocation to optimize your time and to master an agenda between 72
hours to one year in advance. AKOPSO is a computer tool edge to update your
individual planning and see your availability. AKOPSO offers professional
support, from tourism professionals and offers the opportunity of a commercial
presence in major exhibitions related to tourism and travel, both nationally and
internationally !
AKOPSO allow easily to book a tour guide for a guided visit for all types of occasions. AKOPSO was born of field observation, the difficulty of finding a tour guide during the creation of travel for all types of groups (Tour Operators, Coach companies, Travel Agent, DMC, Business Committee, etc). AKOPSO, now fills this void, and allows you to find the tour guide to do the visit, all on one site, and if you don't find any availability from our guides, thank you to contact or operational office by email, that will anwser you in 48H maximum.
AKOPSO TOMORROW
Our goal is to open the range of supply AKOPSO by developing partnerships with guides/tour leaders. This objective is very important for us in order to cover the whole of France in at least twenty languages in 2012. Indeed, you can, anywhere in France, calmly and easily choose the trip of your dreams and the person/professional who will accompany you these few hours is our motto.
Thereafter we hope to open the range of offers access to the neighbouring countries of France, such as Italy, Spain, Holland and, further, the United Kingdom and Ireland, for example.
Thank you for your loyalty and above all good visit !
