Een prettig gesprek met Rafa, de GM van BE Spain 

Introduction

After 15 years working in various agencies, from among the most important in Spain, dealing successfully with groups from their main accounts, I decided to leave my last position to take up this project that we put in 2010. It is certainly true that I love my work and I recognise it is hard work but, at the same time, immensely gratifying when you look back and see that, once again, it has been a huge success. 

Looking at my personal life, I love staying at home with my family. I travel a lot, and a really appreciate those days just playing with my kids, watching a film on the sofa or enjoy a glass of wine with my wife. Simple things makes me so happy!

When did you know you wanted to work for a DMC (or start your own DMC) 

It was back on the 1998 and I started with my own company on 2010. Be Spain DMC arises from the desire and with the aim of offering the best services in order to be able to guarantee the best result. I have always considered that things can be easier for my clients and this is what I wanted to apply when I started my own Company.
What are your companies greatest strengths? Trust with our client, availability 24 hours 365 days at year and the most important our confident with our suppliers. We consider them to be part of the team and they form a fundamental part of out work.  

What are the USP's for your destination? 

There is not two as Spain, anything you wish to do or create for a event can be done, we have so many different s destination in Spain that anything come up you imagination is possible.

Tell us about  the best part of your job? 

To make possible our clients dreams.. With our knowledge on the destination and suppliers, we can be flexible and offer a rapid answer always. We really love what we do. To build a successful event is always a deep satisfaction.

What’s one tip or trick you can share with us, that you use on a daily basis to do your job more quickly or efficiently?  

Is not really a tip or trick, is just the passion I feel in what I am doing.

What do you like most about working with Dutch and Belgian Travel & MICE managers 

The most is that they are really well organized and in the event industry is much appreciated.

Why should the Travel/MICE agent book with you instead of an online booking site, incentive house or direct with the hotel? 

Because we offer that added value that all we are looking for when we are organizing an event, to have a disposal for you a MICE expert that knows exactly what is going on in the destination and being ahead of everything in order to have a success event
What effect do you expect the current pandemic to have on international travel over the next year or so? First, people will be afraid to travel and to have 100 or 200 people together so that means that lot of companies that we are involved in the Travel industry will be stopped until we will have the confident again to travel. We all having a difficult situation those days but it will come again and stronger than before, it will be slowly but it will come again.. 

Actually, we are really confidence on the recommendations about social distances, cleaning hands.. 

We cannot stop the world, we just have to be adapted to the situation while we are waiting the vacuum.

Given the divergence in approaches and success in dealing with COVID-19 among European countries, is there a danger citizens of some of them might see themselves “locked out” of travel? 

Maybe we will have citizens that will be “locked out” of travel, just because they are not 100% sure what will happen if the travel to another country.. Once again, we will have to wait the development of the situation. 

Step by step. Health is the most important but we have in our hand to follow the recommendations, make tests when they are available.. 

Spain will not take so long in opening the air traffic, the situation is getting better every day. Let’s see slowly how we can all help to come back to a “normal life” again.

Like other sectors of the economy, tourism stands to be badly hit by the pandemic this year. What mitigating action can governments and industry players take, in your opinion? 

They should do the test to everybody and the ones that are infected should remaining in their house but the ones that are sane they should take their normal life, if we do that we will know that everybody that are on the streets have no virus and the people will take confident again. Once we have the vacuum then will not be any problem, COVID-19 will be like another disease.. And of course, the most important is to have the vacuum and keep spending money in virus investigation to be prepare for in case we will be involve in more situations like this in the future. 

We all now know that without health, nothing works. We all have to stop and think on these things we do not normally think when we are running our normal life.

Could we be seeing an end to the current era of mass tourism? 

Not at all, the people need the “face to face” and I am 100% confident that this industry is one of the most important ones for all countries. 

MICE Industry is a very powerful Marketing tool. This cannot suddenly disappear, this have to be every year more and more stronger. Networking face to face is fundamental for a successful business relationship.

How are you dealing with the current situation and how do you see the coming future of travel 

As I said the current situation is not easy for anyone so the best we can do is to be 100% at disposal to our clients when they need us and being 100% flexible to their needs.

One famous Spanish writer, Miguel de Cervantes, already in 1605 gave us these insightful words: 

“It is not possible that good and evil are durable. Having evil lasted a long time, we know that good is near”. To be positive is our best weapon these days. 

Our best wishes of health for you all. We hope to see you soon!