CA
TORONTO — A ‘behind the scenes’ event hosted by Collette at Little Portugal’s Chiado restaurant featured insights from Paul Vieira, the company’s Sr. Global Contracting Manager for Portugal, Spain, France & Morocco.
In Toronto to meet with travel advisors and Collette’s business development team, Vieira took time to sit down with Travelweek to talk about how Collette designs its unique tours – and his own personal recommendations for Canadian travellers right now.
Vieira’s team is part of Collette’s product development group, tasked with curating tours and contracting the partners and suppliers that go into the tours, handling all the details behind the scenes.
“This means selecting destinations, building out the tours and determining which partners to work with to create a seamless product for travellers,” he explained.
Having worked with Collette for the past 10 years, Vieira is responsible for 25 tours in Collette’s portfolio of 170.
“Our product design team is based in-destination, something Collette does well,” he said. “Being ‘boots on the ground’ really allows us to be able to react to find new experiences, sometimes just by talking with locals. Being in-destination allows us to react and solve issues faster should they arise. It’s a great advantage that maybe some of our competitors don’t have. If something’s not working, we can make changes to itineraries immediately. I seek out creative partners that are flexible and looking to work with groups.”
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