A logo recognizable among a thousand, an identified brand, a French entrepreneurial success… Since its creation in 1949, Fram has managed to carve out a place of choice in the French tourist landscape. Everyone has in mind his slogan “Les vacances à la FRAMçaise” which will end up sticking to his skin. So, when the emblematic tour operator filed for bankruptcy on October 29, 2015, before being placed in receivership, it was a whole sector, already battered by the arrival of online booking platforms, but also a loyal customers, who have taken a hit.
Since then, water has flowed under the bridges. Taken over at the beginning of 2016 by the Promovacances-Karavel group, it is finally breathing again and, miraculously, regaining market share. An unexpected rebirth, after three years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic during which the tourism sector resisted somehow thanks to state aid. “The activity of generalist tour operator has become structurally complicated because the habits of customers have changed. They have plenty of tools available to organize their trip themselves by accessing very advantageous rates”, recalls Frédéric Estève, Partner in the consulting firm Vertone.
Entrepreneur Alain de Mendonça at the helm
Behind this return to the fore, we find the French entrepreneur Alain de Mendonça, co-founder of the Karavel-Promovacances group. “In 20 years, I have made seven acquisitions. Fram was undoubtedly the most difficult. The older the company, the more complicated it is to restructure”, admits the entrepreneur straight away. At the time of his recovery, Fram is in agony. In the space of a few years, its turnover has melted at breakneck speed. From 455 million euros in 2012, it rose to 90 million euros in 2015. “We had made a rather negative diagnosis of the company. If I had to image it, it’s like a store whose window, but that we have completely renovated inside”. All while capitalizing on the strength of the brand.
First project: digital transformation. For this, Alain de Mendonça was able to rely on the expertise of Promovacances, the online travel agency he launched in 1998. “Their great strength was to understand that there was a need to modernize the brand, while benefiting from the expertise of Promovacances on the Internet”, explains Didier Arino, managing director of the consulting firm Protourisme. An exchange of good practices. “Conversely, Promovacances had a problem: their brand did not impress with the French. It was associated with the good plan that we were going to make by paying less”, continues the expert.
In 2019, the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook also reshuffled the cards. “Fram is located in a segment that has been heckled to say the least. The disappearance of the British company has freed up space: the generalist tour operator offer has become a slightly less competitive field”, indicates Frédéric Estève. At the same time, Fram has diversified its products. The historic holiday clubs have been joined by cruises on ocean liners or catamarans, but also a new camping offer in France. The tour operator has also opened new destinations by offering Zanzibar, Sri Lanka and Oman.
But as in any restructuring, it was necessary to degrease. Fram now has 500 employees, compared to 670 in 2015. But at what cost? For this former leader of the group, the tour operator has lost what made its strength and its DNA: “Before, customers left with their eyes closed and were taken care of like babies from the airport. Fram is no longer just the name, everything is shared with Promovacances, it’s a shame. The level of requirement is no longer the same”. However, the tour operator maintains a high level of service. “All our hotels are of good quality, the few that are not, we take them out of the range. Every year, we have a statistical tool that allows us to trace information and sort it out”, assures Alain of Mendonca.
The Covid effect revives the agencies
To sell its products, Fram relies today on a network of 70 agencies in the territory. And the company intends to maintain a steady pace of new openings: this year alone, eight new ones will see the light of day in Chartres, Douai and Laval. A major asset against the giants Booking and Expedia. “The tour operators who are doing well are those who manage to have a direct relationship with the consumer, in addition to an offer sold via digital technology”, believes Didier Arino. “Once the tour operator has attracted him, the whole challenge is to manage to support him over time, to transform the summer customer into a winter customer. The short-haul one into a long-haul one. This is the big problem of online agencies that have no universe,” continues the specialist. And once again, the Covid weighed in the balance. “The trauma of the pandemic has brought people back to brands, but at the same time to agencies, because advice and human contact remain irreplaceable,” says Alain de Mendonça.
In 2023, Fram aims for a turnover of 650 million euros, after 450 million euros in 2022, or more than two thirds of the whole group. However, the manager remains cautious: “It’s a very cyclical industry. There are ups and downs. We are very exposed to the geopolitical, health, economic and now climatic context. If all goes well at the moment, there will inevitably have a less favorable period in the coming years”.
In the future, the company will also be keen to convince future generations to go through the advice of a travel agency. The age of its clientele is currently between 35 and 65 years old, with 40-55 year olds being the main target. “The older clientele is interesting because it has more means. And above all, it is more loyal, but also more demanding, because it spends more”, observes Alain de Mendonça. With an average basket of 1,000 euros, young people are necessarily less present.
As for inflation, for the moment it does not seem to affect the tourism sector. In the meantime, the hotel-club is making a comeback. “It’s a product which was associated with mass tourism and which did not necessarily have a very good image. Finally, customers may now want to have a holiday during which they put their stress aside, without worrying about organizing things. Through its very club-oriented offer, Fram meets this expectation”, supports Frédéric Estève. For this summer, tour operators have in any case already filled up with reservations. Fram included.