In this context, Travel2latam Antonio López-Lázaro, CEO of the Euroairlines Group
What are you presenting at FITUR 2025?
At FITUR we are presenting the results for 2024, which have been very satisfactory. We have exceeded 12 million euros in turnover, improving the turnover of the previous year by 150% and we have improved the net result by 50%, so we hope to be profitable from the second half of this year.
At this fair we also showed a bit of our strategic plan for the next three years in terms of markets, channels and customers.
Specifically, within what you are commenting, what are the ideas or negotiations?
I could tell you about two strategic pillars that we have been advancing for months now. In the geographic area, we are growing further east, opening 15 markets in Asia and the Middle East, and we are attracting customers from those markets. And on the other hand, in the technological area, we are developing new alternative payment methods to better adapt to each market, where perhaps large corporations such as Visa or Mastercard are not relevant. We are also working on incorporating artificial intelligence for the moment in internal processes, in the back office, such as revenue management and reporting, but we want to bring it to the customer experience.
What is the current structure of the company and what are its plans?
Our current structure has around 50 people between all businesses and we have offices in Madrid, Cancun, Lima and Buenos Aires. That said, to match the great geographic growth we are experiencing, we are pivoting on strategic global partners, such as Discover the World, which is a global GSI that gives us offices in 60 countries, so profitability would be very compromised.
And what are your expansion plans?
Expansion plans are focused mainly on Asia and around 40 markets per year in the next 3 years. We want to reach more than 200 countries in 3 years.
How is business going in the Americas?
That is where we started the distribution business, where we have the most experience, two decades, not in distribution but in general. It is true that we are seeing greater opportunities in the medium and long term in other regions, and we have to adapt to that, but we always have a special affection for the opportunities in those regions of the Americas. In fact, we have just launched an operation from Paris to Punta Cana.
How is the year going in promotional terms for you?
We attend 50 fairs every year, either on our own or through partners. For us, it is a fundamental tool, our sector is still very face-to-face and we are fine with that, that is how we budget it and how we execute it.
How have the last few years been to reach this point of growth?
We are coming from a difficult time like the years 20, 21 and 22. The negative part is that in 2020 we had to face a COVID where we had to use all the tools at our disposal to avoid closing, whether it was financial tools, aid programs, employment regulation files, etc. But we were very clear that if we decided to continue there would be a huge opportunity. Time has proven us right, since there was a very relevant concentration of the sector. Unfortunately, many people were left in the middle from the point of view of agencies, tourist groups and airlines. This reduction in supply gave us many more opportunities, which is what explains the triple-digit growth we have had every year.