The French Samy Hammadache, settled in Montreal since 2017, has taken up the challenge to launch, in full pandemic, a booking platform for tourism activities.
“The optimism and ambition are part of my lifestyle,” says Samy Hammadache. This Frenchman, 53-year-old, installed in Montreal for 2017, comes from the demonstration by launching a few weeks ago, Stew Travel, a booking platform for tourism activities in line. “I believe that it is in a period of crisis that he must draw its pin from the play,” smiles this passionate, whose company employs 17 people (spread over several countries : Canada, Madagascar, Morocco and the United States) and that is expected to reach 200 employees in three years.
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“of Course, we live in a painful period but the pandemic will stop and I think that the tourism sector will emerge even stronger, to the analysis of professional. The journey is a freedom that people have gained, they will not leave them to fall. Here, it is even more marked : the Quebec depart three to four times a year, the trip is really a part of their environment. They are waiting for just one thing, it is that the borders re-opened to be able to go !”
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A supportive environment
In the meantime, Stew Travel invites the inhabitants of the Beautiful Province to discover their own country : in its first version, available since the end of July, the site offers twenty packages discovery in Canada – a way to take a position on the local market, often overlooked by operators, considers the contractor. Then, at the end of the year, the site will continue to evolve to become a “travel planner”.
“The idea is to give the hand to the client so that he could build his residence completely to the card using all the services (accommodation, tours, transport modes, menus of restaurants, etc),” explains Samy Hammadache. For several years, the tourism industry has put in place a mechanism where people do think for themselves : the products have been completely standardized and sanitized, the only logic is that of the price and the pleasure to create a journey has disappeared. My wish is to provide a tool for the client to regain possession of his desires and that he could incur liability (ecological, ethical, etc) besides, the name Stew Travel is both a reference to ‘steward’ – the notion of accompaniment – but also the English term which means ‘stew’ in each dealing with the different ingredients to make the best food possible !”
This idea of “platform ” 4.0″, French the matures for several years. He had even already tried to launch it, in France, as early as 2003, but the project had fizzled – “it was premature”, he says. For his second attempt, the former île-de-france has chosen the quebec metropolis. And this is not a coincidence… “I looked at the most conducive environment to develop my concept and to have the greatest chance of success, tells the one who has emigrated, with family, via a temporary work permit before launching his start-up. Montreal is an ecosystem that is extremely favourable to technological innovation. There are many programs of aid for entrepreneurs (for example, I participated to Challenge Montreal, an accelerator program for innovative enterprises), not to mention that the operating costs are relatively low.”
“Here, I have learned to value in my career”
If Quebec was a choice of “strategic” for the entrepreneur in the soul, what he has found in the Beautiful Province goes well beyond the purely professional. “Socially, Canada is far in advance, it is a system that places humans at the centre”, believes that “nomad” who was born in Algeria and lived in Morocco and in the United States. “There is no prejudice on the origins, we let people express themselves and put forward their talent. What I love also is that you do not look through if you’ve closed a box. In France, I did not dare to speak of my failures, I culpabilisais. Here, it has taught me to value my journey and all my experiences. Now, I am free. More serene.”
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Undertake in Canada
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Her advice to those who dream of a new life across the Atlantic ? Do not be afraid to “take the plunge”. “The French are very appreciated here, all the more that our knowledge is often recognized – the Canadian move a lot from one position to the other, so when we can claim an expertise, it is an asset. But be careful not to arrive with his big hooves ! Be humble, take the time to discover, to understand. And don’t limit yourself in Quebec, because there are other provinces dynamic in Canada.”
