How co-design and data are reshaping a destination’s tourism strategy

In 2024, the Auxerre & Auxerrois Tourist Office set itself an ambitious goal: unite 29 surrounding municipalities around an innovative, personalized visitor experience. To achieve this, the team partnered with Ask Mona to roll out a new, immersive and data-driven cultural mediation system.

Today, wayfinding along the route is interactive, multilingual (7 languages) and embodied by “Ask Germain,” a conversational agent inspired by Saint Germain of Auxerre. The result? A standout launch.

“The installation proved so popular that it recorded over 300 scans in the first few days after going live.”

A figure that signals strong early engagement and validated the relevance of the system from day one.

The challenges: understand better, respond better, shine brighter

Behind the project lay several strategic objectives:

• Capture the different nationalities of visitors and decode their trends;
• Increase the relevance of recommendations to meet expectations;
• Identify emerging interests to adapt sightseeing routes;
• And more broadly, strengthen the region’s branding with a data-first strategy.

A decidedly “on-trend” solution

Thanks to the solution developed with Ask Mona, the Auxerre Tourist Office measured tangible qualitative and quantitative outcomes.

“80% of scanning visitors are non-French nationals.”

This key metric shows the system’s ability to attract and engage an international audience, a top priority for the destination.

The data also helped refine conversational profiles by culture: German and Dutch visitors tend to enjoy longer, more detailed exchanges, while French visitors prefer concise interactions.

Another insight: the emergence of a new South American visitor segment, previously under-represented in local statistics.

Finally, collected data helped re-energize river tourism, identified as a true competitive advantage for the region.

“Being able to capture the questions asked is an excellent way to uncover the sometimes humorous, sometimes very specific queries visitors bring with them. Thanks to our work with Ask Mona, we collect these (anonymously), then analyze them with our Tourist Office teams. The conclusions are invaluable for evolving the experience we offer visitors.”

This precise monitoring paves the way for a data-driven tourism strategy centered on real traveler needs.

Collective mobilization and rapid rollout

Project success also stems from the Tourist Office’s rigorous preparation.

Teams built a comprehensive knowledge base to power Ask Germain, gathering dozens of historical, cultural, and practical resources.

This groundwork enabled a smooth, fast deployment, significantly reducing post-launch adjustments.

Unprecedented territorial coverage

The system now spans 50+ points of interest (churches, squares, Gallo-Roman remains) across the entire area.

This approach encourages open, decentralized exploration, balancing footfall between flagship sites and lesser-known gems.

The database originally created for Ask Germain has evolved into a long-term strategic asset, both scientific and operational.

“I work with Ask Germain and use it when I prepare a tour.”

Even guides have adopted this new ally, proof of the solution’s seamless integration into day-to-day fieldwork.

Ask Germain: a model for connected destinations

By combining personalized experience, actionable data, and inter-municipal collaboration, the project showcases the full potential of territorial conversational assistants.

“This project proves you can both showcase heritage, connect municipalities, and learn from your visitors.”

The payoff: a significant rise in engagement, deeper audience insights, and stronger heritage valorization, key indicators that confirm the solution’s ROI.

Want to create your own “Germain”?

Whether you’re a tourist office, a local authority, or a heritage site, you can design a conversational system tailored to your destination.

Ask Mona supports you from design to analytics, helping you turn data into a true strategic and economic growth lever.

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