Alberto Gutiérrez, the founder and CEO of tours and activities marketplace Civitatis, had no business plan when he set out to build the company.

Asked for his advice for travel startups, Gutiérrez attributed the success of the Spain-based platform, which was founded in 2008, to his ability to do a little of everything from coding and finding partners to accounting.

"I always see this as the key to my success but it is not easy to replicate," he said during an interview in the PhocusWire studio.

Since founding Civitatis, he has built up the brand, attracted significant investment and expanded to Latin America. Most recently, the company struck a partnership with Rappi, which saw the Latin American super app launch a tours and activities vertical as part of Rappi Travel. 

Now the company wants to build on its presence in Latin America where Gutiérrez sees huge opportunity through Rappi's 50 million users and a population that tends to travel locally, he said.

Alberto Guti&eacute;rrez, the founder and CEO of tours and activities marketplace&nbsp;<a href="https://civitatis.com/" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147">Civitatis</a>, had no business plan when he set out to build the company.
Asked for his advice for travel startups,&nbsp;Guti&eacute;rrez attributed the success of the Spain-based platform, which was founded in 2008, to his ability to do a little of everything from coding and finding partners to accounting.
"I always see this as the key to my success but it is not easy to replicate," he said during an interview in the PhocusWire studio.
Since founding Civitatis, he has built up the brand,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/vitruvian-paretners-increases-stake-tour-and-activity-marketplace-civitatis" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147">attracted significant investment</a>&nbsp;and expanded to Latin America. Most recently, the company struck a partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://rappi.com/" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147">Rappi</a>, which saw the Latin American super app&nbsp;<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/rappi-civitatis-partnership-tours-activities" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147">launch a tours and activities vertical</a>&nbsp;as part of Rappi Travel.&nbsp;
Now the company wants to build on its presence in Latin America where Guti&eacute;rrez sees huge opportunity through Rappi's 50 million users and a population that tends to travel locally, he said.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus is a regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus

In an interview with PhocusWire's Linda Fox, Alberto Gutiérrez discusses the role of the Civitatis shops, his challenges as CEO, building on its presence in Latin America, advice for startups and Airbnb's return to tours and activities.