BUSINESS
RETURN JOURNEYS
Our kababayans enjoying a weekend tour with BCN Montjuic Tourist Point at Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands.
By Tricia Morenta
By Pepe Chavez & BCN Montjuic
W
hile operating a travel company would be a dream for those stricken with insatiable wanderlust, taking this on during a global pandemic can be daunting. No bones about it: COVID-19 pretty much grounded to a halt every nook and cranny of the travel and tourism sector. While international tourism grew by 4% in 2021, the UN World Tourism Organization reports this figure is 72% below the pre-pandemic year of 2019. As with the rest of the world, Spain—which has always enjoyed blockbuster destination status in pre-pandemic times— had kept both its international and regional borders shut. It would have been around this time that Barcelona-based Emil Maravillas and Jennelyn Valenzuela would have already recouped the return on their investment on BCN Montjuic Tourist Point, the destination management company they had founded in April 2012. “When
28 THE FILIPINO | #16 2022
the pandemic came, it felt like we were starting over,” relates Valenzuela. BCN Montjuic Tourist Point began its operations as LimeBuns Travel and Tours, initially as a provider of apartamentos turisticos (tourism apartments) before AirBnb became a massive hit. They were specializing in inbound tourism, with over 95% of its clients comprising international travelers to Spain. “We were catering…we still cater to cultural tourists, mostly travelers from the Philippines and countries home to big Filipino populations,” shares Maravillas. From 2012 to 2019, he adds, the company was “very much dependent on international tourists.” Even when Spain finally got out of its two-month home confinement in May, its regional borders were closed, such that domestic tourism from one region to another was nil. Compounding the effects of the pandemic for BCN Montjuic Tourist Point were issues with their office landlord. “It’s a sad reality, but it happens,” says Maravillas. “We had to search for a new base for our operations in
Above: Jennelyn Valenzuela and Emil Maravillas learned how to diversify during the pandemic. Below: Emil shared his love for the outdoors with his clients.
