What is your name and where are you from?
I am Claude Bénard and live in Marseille (France) a very nice city close to the Mediterranean Sea and located in the Provencal area.

Where are you blogging for CW? Since when?
Since 8 months I manage the blog Les Explorers.
My blog is about e-tourism, travel, technotravel as well as special interviews of tourism professional and new regards on the travel industry.

What would you like to tell about yourself?
Discover myself, the eTourism industry and travel industry with my blog at Les Explorers. I think that is the best way find out more about me!

How did you discover the blogoshpere ? Why do you like to blog?
I started to blog with the association Club Arche Meditérranée (http://www.club-arche-med.org) who federated some Internet and media professionnals in the South of France.
I made a lot of great contacts thanks to my blog. For Example I have the possibilty to meet other blogger who share my passion about e-tourism. I am also co-editing the blog ActuVoyage ( with 7 other bloggers). We just started 1 month ago a big event : Les Trophées du e-tourisme 2006.

We launched Les Trophées du e-tourisme 2006 and please note hereby, judged by the main travel agency (Expedia, Lastminute, eBookers...), some innovative
marketing companies (Portaga, eBay, Cuspis...), hotel booking engines (Accor...),
and others great players in the e-tourism.

I look on a Blog as a tool - important is to have a networking spirit and some passion about your work. People feel it even it's on the Net.

How did you become a blogger for CW?
Well, 9 month ago I was thinking about a way to blog about e-tourism and travel industry. I eliminated the home made solution and I first try to integrate a french blog network but didn't find a way. So, after short exchange with Torsten Jacobi, CEO of Creative Weblogging I started the first french blog of the CW blogs-network : Les Explorers.

What experiences did you have with CW? Do you like working with CW?
Creative Weblogging always supported and helped me fast and efficient
With CW I am in an international blog-network with in my opinion big potential. I am very excited about the future!

What are you occupied with when you are not blogging?
I am the Sales Manager France for Cultuzz Digital Media, a great german company who is specialized in eTourism (electronic network, systems for tourism industry) and has the only industrial platform in the World to load and send the tourism products to the eBay platform. Furthermore I make also some consulting for different hotels.
My passions are scuba-diving and skiing. We are privileged here in Marseille - the sea is right here and Montagne are around 2.30 hours by cars.

What would you like to get or do ?
Attend some great meetings with people from all around the World, work hard in exciting eTourism project especially for DMO's (Destination Management Company) and support them to promote and sell their destinations, and of course having fun at work ;-)

What opinion have other people about you? Give a quotation, please ...
Teresa the CEO of Tango Diva, a great travel web site that I made an interview with
(see interview here started with this head line :
Claude is clearly a discerning and caring man!

Are they right?
Well done from Teresa ;-)

Do you like to make a final remark?
In the future I plan to make more professional interviews and also some contest with special offer from my friends who work in hotel and tourism industry. Fun and good way to drive trafic ;-))

Well, in France also, we have lots of passion for blogging and I am convinced of the big potential of this media.

Blog is a tool for connecting and brings people together!