Travel Advisors invite their “friends” in Sevilla

Travel Advisors are 26 independent travel agencies specializing in the corporate market and often in meetings & events. Together weigh more than 400 million euros in turnover. And for 16 years they held the meeting “with friends” with the idea of approaching their partners, in a relaxed manner.

The programme includes a training day and assembly (in the Meliá Sevilla hotel), and another day “in jeans” in which a visit in traditional farmhouses in the area is organised. The president of the association, José Miguel Gimeno, told us: “providers will formally come into your office, but the agenda is complicated … here we give them the opportunity to have the 26 owners (mostly) of the agencies or managing director. They see them as people, not just as professional contacts”. According to José Miguel, “the fact that the general or commercial director of these large companies come makes us proud, and many of them even call us in advance to block the date.” Companies like Amadeus, Melia, NH Hotels, Avis… are there and obviously like this gesture of its customers.

Opening the world of travel to new forms of communication, the afternoon included sessions on neuroscience and travel, or storytelling in travel incentives (by Rafael Isun of Travel Partners). And to share their project with their “friends” the association explained all about the meaning of its new logo, so emotional, ending with a song sung by everyone in the room. In the evening a dinner was held in the courtyard of the precise site of the Cajasol Foundation, enlivened opera (it was recalled that Sevilla is home to no less than 150 operas, including Carmen, Don Juan, The Barber of Seville and even the only Beethoven´s opera, Fidelio).

The convention or assembly does not have to be an internal one act. An interesting example of openness, when we know that in this area, beyond the systems and framework agreements, each project is customized and depends on committed individuals.