Spanish travel services company expands in U.S.

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 27, 2011

Juan Carlos Basabe, director, International Sales, Viajes El Corte Ingles

Photo: Enrique Tubio

Viajes El Corte Ingles, Inc., the United States arm of El Corte Ingles, S.A., a Spanish travel services company, recently expanded its operations by opening new headquarters in Miami, Florida, and launching tripcruises.com, an English language cruise oriented website.

The company first established operations in the United States in March 1987. In 1997, Viajes El Corte Ingles opened a branch office in Miami to serve clients coming from Spain to Florida and corporate clients already in Florida.

Viajes El Corte Ingles has as many as 25 employees depending on the time of year. The company targets travelers with “medium to high purchasing power,” according to Juan Carlos Basabe, director of International Sales, Viajes El Corte Ingles, who responded to questions by email.

Although decision makers at Viajes El Corte Ingles did not conduct research prior to the recent expansion they relied on their belief that there are “increasing numbers of U.S. visitors to Europe and particularly Spain.”

tripcruises.com homepage – click to enlarge

The company moved its headquarters to Miami this year because of the city’s strong position as a cruise port which was was appropriate for the new website tripcruises.com; to offer its services to the multinational Spanish and European companies with offices in Florida; and because of the “huge Spanish-speaking clientele in Florida.”