Carlos Fernández Nieto has spent more than two decades in the travel industry. He began his career in tourism in 2004 as a receptionist, gaining firsthand experience in customer service and hotel operations. He later joined TUI in 2006, then moved to Hotelbeds where he was promoted to Sales Executive for the German market. He went on to spend three years as Commercial Director of a tourist services company, managing 26 offices across 8 countries.

A pivot to product management followed — five years building software at a tech company in the Balearic Islands — before joining Travelgate in 2022 as Senior Product Manager. Today he leads the Marketplace team from Palma de Mallorca, connecting Buyers and Sellers across the global travel industry.

What does Travelgate's Marketplace actually do — in plain language?

It connects Buyers — online travel agencies, tour operators, travel management companies — with Sellers like hotel chains, bed banks, and wholesalers. The connection happens through our platform: we handle the technical integration, the data flow, the commercial framework. What a Partner sees on their side is a clean, working connection. We take care of the complexity behind the scenes so they can focus on their business, not the technical details.

The Marketplace’s role is to make connectivity simple and seamless, so our partners can focus on their business.

You came from product — building the Marketplace — before leading it commercially. What does that give you?

I would like to think that it gives me a grounded perspective on the complexity of what we do. When a Partner asks for a specific solution, I feel I have a better grasp of the challenges involved — it's not just a sales pitch; it's a conversation about feasibility. Coming from product allows me to bridge the gap between a Partner’s needs and what can realistically be built. I believe this transparency helps build trust much faster because we are talking about real solutions, not just promises.

"The Marketplace doesn't lie. The data always tells you what Partners actually need — even when the conversation says otherwise."

What does a healthy Marketplace look like — what signals do you actually watch?

Activation speed and Partner growth. How quickly does a new Partner go from connected to generating real value? And once they're active, are they actually expanding? Those two metrics tell you almost everything. If activation is slow, something's broken in onboarding or product fit. If growth plateaus, the relationship needs attention.

The signal I find most revealing is the one that's hardest to measure: whether Partners are proactively involving us in their next initiatives, or only calling when something breaks. The first shows they see us as a strategic partner, while the second highlights an opportunity to further strengthen that relationship. Our goal is always to be part of those initiatives from the start.

What does the travel industry still get wrong about B2B connectivity?

 That it's a one-time technical event. A company integrates, it goes live, and they consider it done. But a connection is only as valuable as the commercial strategy running on top of it and the relationship maintaining it. Technology connects systems. People connect Partners. The best-performing connections in our Marketplace are the ones where both sides are actively managing the relationship — not just monitoring an API. 

Where is the travel Marketplace heading in the next few years?

 More intelligence, faster time-to-value. The next phase is about helping Buyers and Sellers find the right fit based on real-time data and predictive insights. Building blocks like FastX, Xcale, and our Reconciliation API are turning a "connection" into a high-performance growth engine. Speed expectations have shifted permanently; this pressure is healthy because it forces us to remove friction we'd otherwise tolerate. 

Travelgate: How would you define Travelgate’s mindset in one sentence?You managed 26 offices across 8 countries before pivoting to product. Why make that move?

Because every commercial problem I was trying to solve had a technology layer underneath. I found myself building BI tools, defining system modules, and leading software implementations — essentially working at the intersection of business and product without a formal framework.

The move into product wasn’t a sudden shift, but a natural step to develop that skillset with more structure and intent. Over five years, I built the discipline around prioritisation, validation, and focusing on solutions that drive real usage — not just good ideas.

That pivot has been one of the most valuable decisions in my career. Not because product is better than commercial, but because being able to operate across both creates a much stronger perspective than specialising in just one.

What surprised you most about Travelgate when you joined?

 The depth. I expected a tech company with a good product. What I found was a team that genuinely understands the travel industry — not just the technology layer. I've learned to recognise when a team is genuinely focused on doing good work rather than just performing it.  

What do you enjoy at Travelgate ? 

That when something goes wrong, the conversation is about understanding what happened and how to fix it — not about appearances.

That kind of environment is rarer than it should be, and it's where I do my best work. Once you find it, you don’t take it for granted. We’re far from perfect, but that’s part of the strength of the environment — it keeps us honest and pushes us to improve every day.

You've been in travel since 2004. What still excites you about the industry? 

The fact that it still hasn’t been fully solved. After almost two decades, there are still fundamental challenges in distribution, connectivity, and in how Buyers and Sellers discover and trust each other at scale.

In many industries, that level of fragmentation would be seen as a limitation. In travel, it means there’s still meaningful work to do — real problems to solve, not just features to ship.

And beyond that, travel still moves people — literally and figuratively. Being part of the infrastructure that enables that, even at a B2B level, never feels abstract. Every connection in the marketplace ultimately translates into someone getting where they want to be. That’s a strong reason to show up every day.