TRIPS TURN CONFIDENTIAL WITH MYRIAM GUYON
Voyages Confidentiels, a French luxury travel agency, is cultivating responsible tourism to pamper a clientele that is used to palaces, but wants unique, authentic experiences |
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TRIPS TURN CONFIDENTIAL WITH MYRIAM GUYON
Voyages Confidentiels, a French luxury travel agency, is cultivating responsible tourism to pamper a clientele that is used to palaces, but wants unique, authentic experiences |
Catégorie : Monde - Économie du secteur
- Tourisme
Article rédigé par Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine le 11-07-2023
When she founded Voyages Confidentiels in 2011, Myriam Guyon wanted to offer travellers in search of authentic luxury an alternative to the more traditional tourist experiences that prevailed at the time. Without realising it, she initiated the 'quiet luxury' movement that is so popular today.
Far from the clichés of blinged-out, ostentatious luxury, Myriam and her teams cultivate “simple, authentic” luxury, nourished by rich, transformative experiences for travellers increasingly in search of meaning.
Her ambition: to move them, surprise them, arouse their curiosity, nurture their knowledge and raise their awareness. Her secret to achieving this is to combine a solid team with a host of experts in each destination, backed up by ultra-luxury accommodation and service. “I'm surrounded by a small team of five people, which gives us the agility of a cat,” she laughs. This flexibility is needed to adapt to the most demanding guests, and to communicate with the 1,000 to 2,000 “local correspondents” who work with her to manage international operations.
Travellers in search of exclusive experiences and privileged access
She listens to her guests, to their expectations, and to their uncertainties too. Their habits, preferences, desires, knowledge, and interests are scrutinised to deliver experiences they wouldn't find on their own.
Picnicking in the heart of the Valley of the Temples in Sicily, brushing against the legs of the Sphinx of Giza in Egypt, entering the gorilla sanctuary in Rwanda. These are just some of the experiences she creates for guests who are used to having it all and seeing it all.
The work of Myriam and her teams is therefore mainly focused on the search for experiences off the beaten track. For travellers who choose Mexico's much-loved Yucatán peninsula, Myriam Guyon guides them to old haciendas that have fallen into oblivion, and organises lunches or dinners there, or gives them privileged access to private cenotes, around which she organises a lunch.
All this while making sure that spaces are privatised for them. Places that are inaccessible to the public specially opened for its guests, or places that are accessible to the public but open precisely before or after the hours when the crowds are present. Travellers then travel with dedicated guides or experts, who reveal mysteries with each visit. “Nowadays, guests are looking for authenticity and encounters. They're no longer just travellers, they're becoming part of their journey,” explains Myriam Guyon.
“Our speciality is to be able to create moments of grace, where emotion takes over,” adds the priestess of the traveller in search of truth. A truth that shines through in every encounter with an Egyptologist, a repentant former poacher or a fisherman.
A luxury of authenticity
This is how Myriam Guyon puts together each trip. “The luxury we offer our guests, while retaining the very finest accommodation, is a simple luxury. Taking part in a fishing trip with fishermen in the south of Portugal, before tasting freshly caught sardines at a picnic on the beach, sometimes creates more emotion than dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
In Africa, we can introduce them to anti-poaching brigades. We can tell them how these species conservation missions work and why,” says Myriam Guyon with passion.
In her opinion, travellers are no longer content to follow a route, “we no longer experience a journey, we make it”, she says.
While the trend towards quiet luxury is fairly recent in the fashion industry, it is less so in the travel industry. “To live happily, let's live hidden”, preaches Myriam Guyon, who points out that her guests are often heirs, or people who worked hard before making their fortune. These travellers have a “rejection of the show-off” attitude and are more than ever looking for authenticity that opens up their minds. “Guests returning from Greece have gone to meet one of the last people weaving and making lace, nestling on the edge of Paros”, says the magic-maker. Eventually, it's these “human connections”, made possible by Myriam and her teams, that are most valuable in the eyes of these guests.
More responsible luxury
While the modes of transport adopted by travellers with very high purchasing power are often the subject of controversy, their experiences and travel choices are increasingly geared towards environmental issues and the societal impact they can have.
“These travellers enable small craftsmen or small tribes to benefit from additional income, and that alone is eco-responsible”, says the travel specialist. “We'll be giving priority to addresses in very isolated places, particularly in Africa, where we'll be looking for committed owners who will be preserving thousands of hectares to protect, for example, the last pangolins. An animal that is on the brink of extinction, and yet the most poached in Africa”, she adds. Travellers are even guided by repentant poachers, who explain the reasons for their misdeeds and their new lifestyle.
“In Rwanda in particular, part of the income generated by travellers is donated to communities to help save the gorillas. Our guests set off on a fairly intense trek, with a team of vet-primatologists, to see the gorillas. The information that these experts pass on gives a real eco-responsible dimension to the experience. Tourists understand that the money they have invested in their trip is helping to preserve the species”, adds Myriam Guyon.
Another example is Egypt, which is “open-sky archaeological research”. Here, attracting travellers with high purchasing power is invaluable. “We have an excellent relationship with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. We offer visits to the pyramids before or after closing time, or the discovery of the Sphinx's legs with a renowned Egyptologist archaeologist”, explains the founder of Voyages Confidentiels. While ordinary mortals admire the Sphinx from a hilltop, her guests enjoy the privilege of getting up close to the legs and understanding why and how research is being carried out. These are “extremely fulfilling” exchanges for guests who are used to all kinds of material luxuries.
“Many of them come back changed, saying 'we've really had a different experience, it's transformed the way we see things''”. Myriam continues: “When you go to Rwanda and see the gorillas or visit the genocide museum with a genocide survivor, who is there to tell you about it and explain the horror of inhumanity, no one comes away neutral. These are precious moments”, she concludes.
Transformative moments, confidential moments, that Myriam Guyon and her teams continue to create and shape to meet the growing needs of customers in search of meaning and emotion.
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