Transat's Expat Experts offer European insights

Canadian travellers looking for an insider’s perspective on Europe can now get a little extra help from Canucks living abroad in a new program from Transat.

The company’s Expat Experts program was launched this week, providing travellers with the inside track on six of Transat’s European destinations through the recently-launched Experience Transat blog. The program will feature various blog entries from six Canadians about their experiences in Europe, with advice on everything from where to find the best restaurants to lesser-known destinations and attractions known only to locals. The current roster of Expat Experts includes Montrealers Judith Ritchie and Marie-Eve Vallières, who lived in Paris and London respectively; Kelowna’s Hayley Richardson in Tuscany; Torontonians Katie and Geoff Matthews in Prague; and Vancouverites Gail Aguiar in Porto and Eva Hamori in Budapest.  

Transat spokesperson Ursula Leonowicz said the program was designed to present the company’s European destinations “in an unexpected way,” encouraging Canadians to both travel and plan their vacations differently by providing online sources of unique inspirations, ideas and tips, all from a local perspective.

“More and more, people are going online to plan their vacations so we wanted to offer a new online experience to help them with their planning,” she said, adding that the program came together earlier this year.

By visiting the site and clicking on an Expat Expert’s entry, visitors to the blog can explore the destination through photos, personal anecdotes and recommendations on what each city has to offer.

In addition to their experience in Transat’s European destinations, Leonowicz said the six bloggers were chosen based on their portfolios as well as how their personal experiences fit with the company’s overall vision.

“We were looking for local insight on the destinations we offer so we tried to find expats with lots of local knowledge and experience and a desire to share their insights with others,” she said.

Expat Experts is the latest addition to Experience Transat, which launched in June to offer travellers’ personal experiences in Transat’s destinations through the lens of fashion, food, history and culture. In addition to articles and photos, travellers can also access a series of web capsules with original content, including Style Jaunt (produced in collaboration with Flare magazine) and Travel Basecamp, an exclusive reality-style travel documentary series, both developed by Transat. Travellers can also post their own photos and testimonials to the blog.

“The Experience Transat blog is based on expert travellers’ personal experiences and showcases Transat’s destinations in an unexpected way, highlighting the different collaborators’ points of view,” Leonowicz explained.

And while Expat Experts has just taken off, Leonowicz said that travellers can look forward to an expanded program in the future with new features such as video entries.