Alentour acquires Manawa

The local tourism platform becomes France's leading digital platform for the distribution of outdoor tourist activities with the acquisition of Manawa

M & A buy side 2022, May

E-travel & hospitality

"The acquisition of Manawa is a tremendous boost for Alentour, benefiting the entire local tourism ecosystem: we are completing our B2B2C approach with a B2C channel to be present at all stages of the traveller's journey. The idea is to multiply the points of contact with consumers, so that activity providers are as visible as possible. Thus, our enriched outdoor activities catalogue can be integrated on general public platforms, such as Manawa, but also on the websites of tourist accommodation and institutional tourism partners - which we are already doing with the Savoie Mont Blanc Agency, the Côte d'Azur or the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. The acquisition of Manawa also allows us to cover the whole of France, with an outdoor offer that we will continue to develop, to meet the growing demand for this type of experience."

Timothée de Roux, President of Alentour

Alentour, the local tourism platform, announces the acquisition of the first French digital platform for the general public (B2C) for booking outdoor activities, Manawa.com. Alongside Timothée de Roux, President of Alentour, Manawa's co-founder Philippe Bichet has been appointed B2C General Manager of Alentour.

The Alentour platform, launched in September 2021 by the Banque des Territoires, announced its ambitions at the time of its creation: to boost local tourist ecosystems by encouraging the digitalisation of leisure activity providers to meet the new expectations and habits of travellers. In just 7 months, more than 5,700 activities and over 1,600 accommodations have been connected to the platform.

Today, Alentour is continuing its development with the acquisition of the first outdoor activity booking website in France: the Manawa platform. With this operation, Alentour is entering the B2C market for the marketing of outdoor tourist activities, a key sector for the French market, which has historically been attached to this type of activity. As the birthplace of paragliding, diving, mountaineering, hot air ballooning and kitesurfing, France's rich landscape makes it a perfect playground for these types of experiences! And the French are not mistaken, since 77% of them practised an outdoor activity in 2021.

End consumers will be able to access a complete catalogue of activities, check their availability, book to avoid queues and also be inspired by the discovery of new offers, off the beaten track. The complementary nature of the two platforms' channels will enable them to mutually enrich their respective inventories, and to continue the work of digitalising service providers who are not yet technically equipped. To this end, Alentour will host Manawa's teams in its Paris offices.

For Alentour, the digitalisation of the outdoor tourism sector is key. While consumers are increasingly interested in this type of experience - a trend that has been accelerated by the health crisis - the range of leisure activities that can be booked online remains very urban, offering in particular visits to "must-see" sites in major cities. With the acquisition of Manawa, Alentour is pursuing its objective of aggregating and digitising the largest and most varied catalogue of leisure activities possible, and is affirming its desire to highlight outdoor tourism offers that are currently not very visible online.