Q & A with Miguel HauschildPresident of the Maloka Group

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

The Maloka Group is a tour operator basically focused on incoming tourists of all stripes, including MICE, a reason why the company has been attending the EIBTM fair for a number of years. About this event´s latest edition and his tapping into the Venezuelan market Mr. de Leon spoke exclusively with Caribbean News Digital.

Q.- Is this your first time at the EIBTM fair?

A.- No, we´ve been attending EIBTM for quite some time, from the event´s first edition in Geneva to Barcelona in 2005.

Q.- How do you compare this year´s edition with last year´s fair?

A.- I believe this one has been pretty good. The organization continues to be as good as ever, and even though it might appear less massive in terms of turnout, professional visitors like ourselves have managed to arrange business appointments that have panned out to be twice as positive.

Q.- As to the Venezuelan market, what segments are you dealing with?

A.- Well, we´re carpeting the whole country. Our offices are headquartered on Margarita Island, but we´ve also set up offices in Caracas and we´re reaching out to the entire Caribbean. We deal with incoming tourism for a number of different markets. Out of that group, Spain is no doubt one of the major markets, and we´ve also got a full-fledged team working on the MICE market.

Q.- Are you dealing with the German market?

A.- No, we only deal with the German market on an individual basis. We basically home in on the Spanish, U.S., Italian and Latin American markets.

Q.- What do you basically offer travelers in the Venezuelan market that other tour operators don´t have?

A.- Well, on the one hand, we´re not tour operators selling trips to Margarita Island or to any other destination in the country. We definitely deal with the entire Venezuelan market, from business travel to MICE and other segments. In that sense, we´ve got a business travel team that deals with charter flights and a second team that tackles corporate travel and MICE.

Q.- What companies do you operate charter flights with?

A.- For the time being, we´re just receiving charter flights from Prague through Czech Airlines.

Q.- What domestic airline does your company rely on more often?

A.- We keep very close ties with Acerca in terms of domestic flights and routes, while Aerotours is our major partner for tourist travel.

Q.- Do you work with Aruba as a country?

A.- Yes, but only through combinations of destinations linked to Venezuela.

Q.- How has the flow between Aruba and Venezuela been doing?

A.- Well, I think it´s important and it´d doing okay. This is a seasonal route with high-peak moments, especially on weekends.