“Communicating well is a task that requires a number of different approaches, and a destination has many values that need to be addressed“
–Reyes has many years of experience in the world of tourism marketing and communications. Travel, cuisine and more—he gives his opinion on all kinds of travel experiences. What are your fondest memories of your career so far?
When you are in love with your job, and you dedicate yourself to it fully, everything you do gets added to a growing list of happy memories. It’s the human side of each experience, of each trip, that normally stays with me. The people who cross your path, the ones you meet unexpectedly on a trip, or the characters you travel just to interview. You always have to learn, understand and accept other worlds, and other points of view. That’s what I think enriches you as a person, and especially as a traveller. I am particularly passionate about my personal website, www.altum.es, which is like my baby. Unintentionally and unwittingly, it has become a micro-medium.
– How would you say tourism has changed from when it began to the present day?
In every way. When I started out, there were no mobile phones, and the internet hadn’t been invented yet. Although people were starting to write on computers, typewriters were still very much in use in newsrooms, and the air in our offices was filled with their unmistakable noise and smokers’ cigarette smoke. That is unthinkable today. The professional experience and career nous of the journalistic greats are still there, and thankfully will always be there. However, new generations bring new things, without even getting started on technology… I can’t forget the presentations I gave to clients without tablets, screens, or special effects. I still remember what it was like to format by hand, what a paper phone book was, and when you had to look up information by investigating the yellow pages. Requesting an international conference over the phone… It seems like I’m talking about the very distant past, but it wasn’t that many years ago… or was it? (Laughs)
Do you think institutions and individuals nowadays are aware of the importance of good communication? Is there still room for improvement?
You can and should always try to improve. It shouldn’t be as difficult to define “good communication” today as it is. Having a website doesn’t make you a journalist, having the latest mobile with however many lenses doesn’t make you a photographer, and the pretty faces of influencers don’t make the latest miracle cure. Of course, this is all valid in its own way, but you also need to value experience, years of work, and “know-how”. I am surprised to see how many companies squander money on communication campaigns that, in my opinion, fail to achieve the expected results. Sometimes I think they are just passing trends, and for whatever reason, there they are.
On the other hand, some clients think they know who their target audience is, but they have trouble reaching them. Sometimes the means you need to use to achieve your goals are far from obvious. I believe in shortcuts, in bringing together synergies and well-implemented strategies, and I am convinced that any medium can be used for communication, even if it is only for internet positioning.
Communicating well is a task that requires a number of different approaches, and a product/destination has many values that need to be addressed; technology and trends alone are not enough. Human values and simplicity should never be pushed to one side, which is why I give so much importance to details, and of course, to public relations. Good communication should always try to have a 360º perspective.
– If you had the total freedom to choose a destination to promote, including the chance to travel there, where would you choose? Is there anywhere you want to go?
Hmm… I don’t think I’ve ever said “I’m not interested in that destination” or “there’s nothing there to see”. I think that’s what tourists say when they go to “the must-visit destination” to see “the must-see sights”. As a communicator, I try to keep an open mind. I have to know how to find the attractive qualities to any communication.
I think that all destinations have the potential to be discovered. You can explore according to your interests and, as a communicator, you have to know how to look for the best qualities in each location, the hidden facets, the core values. That’s where the essence lies.
There are so many destinations to promote, and I get invited to visit them. But the place I dream of personally is impossible to promote for political and, above all, security reasons—and I don’t think anyone will ever invite me: Yemen.
– Your job requires you to communicate with demanding customers with refined tastes. Is it easy to work in the world of luxury?
I always repeat something I heard the CEO of Hermes say in Paris a few years ago. This phrase has almost become a religion for me: “The more I know about luxury, the less I understand it.” He was not wrong.
The concept of luxury is so broad, which means it is simultaneously incredibly subjective, fascinating and very challenging. Working in this sector requires very precise movements, and you sometimes need to think several steps ahead, like in chess. Customers in the luxury world are not easy to deal with. They know their product better than anyone, and at the same time, they have a lot of life experience, a lot of travel miles under their belt, and a special “savoir faire”. You have to be up to their standards in every way.
– You just started as director of the international travel magazine Wonder Go, which will be published on a bimonthly basis in Spanish and English. What can you tell us about the magazine?
Wonder GO is an independent publication aimed at travellers with some experience in the world of travel, from an upper/middle-class background. It was founded in Portugal, where it only exists online and has a very good position on the market. The magazine prizes high-quality journalism and photography and is a wide, diverse and international publication.
It will be released in Spanish and English, and we will make sure our online reach in the Spanish-speaking world will win over more readers. The print version is very carefully edited, and although it will not be available on sale at news kiosks, it will be distributed across a broad spectrum of the tourism sector and to society in general. We believe in the experience of our collaborators, and we have a number of different nationalities on our team. Our General Director, Fernando Borges, has extensive experience in the advertising and marketing sector, which shows in the way he manages our work.
Our first issue is coming out very soon, in fact, we are closing the edition this week. We are very excited about it and are eager to bring readers a breath of fresh air, internationality, design, and of course, our Wonder GO way of seeing the world.
– People tell me you have a cosmopolitan soul, but I want to put that to the test. Which three cities in the world are your favourite, and why?
I have never liked perfect cities, which do exist, even if people are unwilling to believe it. I have a trio that I call the “rogue triangle”, which is made up of three cities that I absolutely adore: Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon and Bangkok. None of these cities is perfect, they are all somewhat chaotic, mysterious, vibrant, overpopulated and have many problems.
Rio is perhaps the most beautiful city in the world in terms of its landscape, while Lisbon has all the nostalgia of the past shaped into a city with a new European side; and Bangkok is everything, a microcosm of tradition and modernity, the Mecca of Asian luxury, the Lady of Chao Phraya and in its form and soul it is the entire ancient kingdom of Siam.
– After a professional career spanning thirty years, what are your medium-term objectives?
At the moment, there is only one objective—Wonder GO. I want us to make this magazine a reference point in the history of travel publications.
