The mistake almost every travel tech company makes when entering Portugal and Spain
‍‍There is a pattern that repeats itself with disconcerting regularity: a travel tech or hotel tech company with real traction in its home market, the UK, the US, Israel, Germany, decides to expand into the Iberian Peninsula. They hire a country manager or a local sales rep, give them access to the CRM, the sales deck and the prospect list. And wait.

Six months later, the pipeline is empty. Or worse: full of conversations that are going nowhere.

The problem is rarely the person hired. The problem is that the company has replicated a sales model built for a different market, with a different rhythm, a different decision-making culture and a different buyer profile. In the Iberian market, that does not work.

This article explains why, and how to build a commercial structure that generates results from the first quarter.


What makes the Iberian decision cycle differentBefore talking about teams and profiles, it is essential to understand the context in which they will operate. Portugal and Spain are not the same market, but they share some structural characteristics that distinguish the buying process in the hotel sector from what happens in other European countries.

1. The decision is rarely where it appears to be
In an independent Portuguese or Spanish hotel, the title 'General Manager' does not necessarily mean that person has purchasing autonomy for technology. More often than not, there is an owner, a family board or an investment group in the background that needs to be involved. The formal hierarchy and the real decision hierarchy are frequently different.
Anyone selling hotel tech without mapping this distinction will waste months nurturing the wrong contact.

2. Trust comes before the proposal
In the Anglo-Saxon market, it is relatively common to move towards a demo or a commercial proposal after one or two contacts. In the Iberian Peninsula, that is premature in most cases. The Iberian hotelier wants to understand who is on the other side, what the track record is, who else has worked with this solution, and, ideally, wants a reference from someone they trust. The SDR who arrives with an aggressive outreach sequence and a link to schedule a demo will be ignored. Not for lack of interest in the product, but because there is no relationship yet.

3. The cycle is longer, but more loyal
Once trust is built and a decision is made, the Iberian client tends to be more loyal than the European average. Supplier turnover is lower. This means the investment in relationship building pays off, but it requires patience and a commercial structure adapted to cycles of six to twelve months, not six to eight weeks.


The wrong profile versus the right profile
‍This is where most companies get hiring wrong.
The profile that looks right (and usually is not)

Many travel tech companies look for a profile with SaaS sales experience, fluency in English, familiarity with methodologies such as MEDDIC or SPIN Selling, and the ability to close fast cycles. This is the ideal profile for selling in the North American or British market.

In the Iberian market, this profile tends to struggle because:
- They have no network in the local hotel sector
- They operate with a sales cadence the market does not absorb
- They underestimate the importance of informal relationships and referrals
- They are unfamiliar with the real decision-making circuits within Iberian hotel groups

The profile that works
The right salesperson for the Iberian market is not necessarily the most experienced in formal sales methodologies. It is someone who:
- Has presence and credibility in the local hotel sector, whether from working at an OTA, a hotel group, a tech company with Iberian presence, or in consultancy for the sector
- Knows how to navigate long conversations without losing the commercial thread
- Can adapt the message to the interlocutor's profile, from the owner of a boutique hotel in the Alentejo to the Chief Commercial Officer of a chain with twenty properties
- Has genuine comfort in Portuguese and Spanish, not just functional fluency



Prospecting and closing: complementary roles, not interchangeable onesThe most common mistake in the Iberian market isn't picking the wrong profile, it's treating prospecting and closing as the same function under different names.

In practice, they work like a relay team.

On the prospecting side sits the Sales Development Representative (or Lead Development Representative, depending on how the company names it), the rep whose job is to generate and qualify conversations, through LinkedIn, email and phone, and land the meeting on the calendar. It's a game of volume, cadence and consistency: identifying the right hotel, reaching the right person, and building enough interest to justify fifteen minutes of their time.

From the moment that meeting is booked, a different profile takes over, the Business Development Rep (or Business Development Associate/Executive, depending on the internal structure), responsible for carrying the process from the demo through to close. This is the rep who deepens the relationship, brings in the right stakeholders, handles objections and negotiates, with a single focus: turning interest into a signed contract.

In the Iberian market, this division of labor isn't optional, it's close to a precondition for success. As covered earlier, trust precedes the proposal, and the decision cycle runs longer and involves more stakeholders than in other European markets. That has two implications:
- Whoever books the meeting (outbound sales rep, inside sales rep, pre-sales) needs to be good at opening doors, not necessarily at negotiating. These are different skill sets, and blending them tends to produce mediocre results at both.
- Whoever takes over after the meeting needs the ability to navigate long conversations, multiple decision-makers and a pace that can't be artificially rushed, all without losing sight of the path to close.

Companies that try to have one rep cover both phases, from first contact to signed contract, end up with an unbalanced funnel: either the pipeline fills up and nobody has time to close it with the care the Iberian market demands, or the focus on closing active accounts leaves prospecting stalled.

Most travel tech companies entering the Iberian market need to start by strengthening the account-development side, the profile that builds reputation and qualifies strategic opportunities, and only later scale up volume prospecting, once there's enough market recognition and references in place. Doing it the other way around, pushing outbound volume before credibility is established, is a common and costly mistake.



How to build real pipeline from the first quarterThe good news: it is possible to generate qualified pipeline in the first ninety days. But it requires a specific approach.

Weeks 1–3: Defining an ICP adapted to the local market
The ICP that works in the home market rarely translates directly to the Iberian market. It is necessary to redefine what type of hotel has the capacity and propensity to buy this solution, who the real decision-makers are, and what problems are currently active in the Iberian market that this solution addresses.

Weeks 3–6: Activating the network before outbound
‍Before any outreach sequence, the network needs to be activated. This means engaging with sector associations, attending local events, identifying complementary partners with established relationships in the market. The first commercial conversations should come from warm introductions, not cold email.

Weeks 6–12: Outbound calibrated to the market's rhythm
When outbound begins, it should reflect what was learned in the previous weeks: messaging specific to the Iberian context, a cadence adapted to the local response cycle, and a focus on rigorous qualification before any proposal.

Throughout the 90 days: Alignment between marketing and commercial
No sales strategy works in isolation. Marketing must be building authority in the market at the same time the commercial team is prospecting, so that when the SDR or BDR reaches out, the company name is already recognisable.


The structure we recommend
Phase 1 (0–6 months): A senior BDR with a network in the Iberian hotel sector, supported by specialist marketing. Focus on building reputation, identifying partners and qualifying the first strategic opportunities.
Phase 2 (6–12 months): Addition of SDR capacity to scale prospecting volume, based on the learnings and references generated in Phase 1.
Phase 3 (12+ months): Full structure with SDR, BDR, and potentially a dedicated partnerships profile, as the market justifies it.


ConclusionEntering the Iberian market with the right team, at the right time and with a sales model adapted to the local context is not slower than replicating the model from the home market, it is simply more effective.

The alternative, hiring quickly, with the wrong profile, and expecting the product to sell itself, costs time, money and, frequently, market credibility for another full cycle.

If you are considering expansion into Portugal, Spain or LATAM and want to understand how to structure the commercial approach to generate pipeline from the first quarter, get in touch.

Hospitech Advisors supports travel tech and hotel tech companies in building commercial presence across EMEA & LATAM: with SDRs, BDRs, marketing and partnerships specialised in the hotel sector.