Two of France’s ecotourism leaders have joined forces to form a European leader. The FairMoove group has acquired the Betterfly Tourism group, with the aim of democratizing environmental labelling in tourism.
Hubert Vendeville, CEO of Betterfly Tourism, said: “To promote environmental labelling more widely in France and internationally”. This statement follows the merger of the two groups and highlights the opportunities offered to Betterfly Tourism by joining FairMoove.
Fairmoove was founded in 2020 by Corinne Louison, Arthur Courtinat and Jean-Pierre Nadir. The Paris-based company has just raised 5.5 million euros to transform itself into a group, and “enrich its offer by covering the entire tourism value chain”, as Jean-Pierre Nadir, who founded the Easy Voyages website in 2000.
FAIRMOORE
Fairmoove is enjoying great success, and investors are jostling to become a Fairmoove shareholder. This new financing has been arranged with the Entrepreneur Invest fund, Bpifrance, the WMH Project group and business angels such as footballer Blaise Matuidi, Mixicom influence agency director Thierry Boyer and Georges Sampeur, founder and former CEO of B&B Hotels and now on the board of Pierre & Vacances.
Fair Moove also counts other industry players on its board, including Michel Salaün of the Salaün Holidays group, Serge Trigano, founder of Mama Shelter, and Jean-Marc Janaillac, ex-Chairman of Air France.
FairMoove’s ambition is to become an integrated group focused on responsible tourism. To achieve this, it is counting on its two new acquisitions, Double Sens, a tour operator specializing in fair trade and immersion travel, and Betterfly Tourism. Founded in Nantes in 2011, this consulting and training firm is also a software publisher dedicated to sustainable tourism.
“We want to get as many players as possible to take action in their transition. To achieve this, we use our solutions to help them reduce their environmental impact and optimize their operating costs,” explains Hubert Vendeville. 1,000 customers – hotels, campsites, restaurants and tourist destinations – have already been supported by Betterfly Tourism. And the company (15 employees to date – 20 by early 2024) intends to go even further. This acquisition will give it the means to do so.
“We’ll be able to accelerate development, innovation and the deployment of sustainable tourism to as many people as possible in France, but also in Europe.” In particular, he intends to draw on Green Claims, a European directive designed to regulate the use of environmental claims and combat greenwashing.
The Nantes-based publisher is particularly targeting the hotel and camping industries with Winggy, a tool which, with a view to economic and environmental efficiency, encourages them to implement actions to improve their impact. Above all, Winngy is currently the only software application authorized by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) to issue environmental labels for hotels.
“In France, it will become compulsory for hoteliers from 2026 onwards”, Hubert Vendeville points out. Betterfly Tourism’s offer also targets restaurateurs with the Edgar tool, which helps them reduce food waste, and local authorities with the Passeport Vert platform in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Program.
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