When Tim van der Wel and his great love Hilda from Venezuela set out to make a life in the Netherlands, they were very much searching for how they could be happy together. From that, Avila Travel was born - a love story. The shared love and energy they put into their work sets them apart from many other organizations. "We want to become the best at what we do, to enrich as many people as possible with our travels. "Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Online editor: Mical Joseph
Image: John van Helvert
Tim: "I studied tourism in Breda. During my studies I started traveling to Latin America. I really wanted to learn Spanish, so I did two long-term internships there, in Curaçao and Peru. After my studies, I started guiding trips for Djoser and Sawadee, mainly in Latin America and Africa. That was my dream job. I did that for a couple of years, a lot of fun. I was constantly on the road, which gave me the feeling that it was something temporary. Because in the long run, I wanted to be a house-hugger."
Hilda: "I had my own law firm in Caracas and had never left Venezuela. But that would change..."
Tim: "I had just come from Peru and on my way to visit my parents, who were on vacation in Curaçao, I spent two days in Caracas. There I ran into Hilda on the street. She took me by cable car to the top of the mountain against which Caracas lies, the Avila. In the cabin, she gave me such a beautiful smile... We fell in love. And we were both at a stage in our lives that we were open to that. Hilda then pretty soon came to Holland to spend vacations with me. Then I showed her places like Veere, Delft, Breda and, of course, Rotterdam and Amsterdam."
Hilda: "What I loved about Holland was that there are buildings from the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. We only have colonial cities. And I found it very funny that you can look inside everyone's windows. I kept stopping to see what people were doing, haha. By now I'm used to it: I've been living in the Netherlands for twelve years."
Tim: "First I emigrated to Venezuela, for love. I worked as an accountant at the Dutch embassy, something completely different. Instructive, but not necessarily fun. It was also a big transition from being on the road a lot and social activities to an office job and only numbers. Unfortunately, Venezuela has started to deteriorate tremendously in recent decades. I experienced that most strongly. And all sorts of things were happening privately in the Netherlands. So after two years we decided to leave Venezuela behind and try our luck in the Netherlands. That was quite difficult for Hilda. Emigrating from a South American culture is very tough. In terms of climate, but also the affection you are used to with your own family is suddenly gone. Hilda is a strong and proud woman who trained as a lawyer, but in the Netherlands she couldn't do anything with that. We were very much looking for how we could be happy together. From that, Avila Travel was born."
Hilda: "It's a love story. "Tim and Hilda holding a painting of the Avila, the mountain where their love story began.
Tim: "I love to travel, Hilda is very entrepreneurial by nature. As a mix, we are a bomb of energy. Dreamy, but calculated. Over the years, because of the energy and love we've put into it, we've run just a little faster, taken just a little more risk than a lot of other organizations. And we are hugely ambitious. We started out as a Latin America specialist, purely for people who happened to stumble upon our website on the Internet and for clients who came in directly to us. Over the years we saw more and more opportunities: we added Africa, started working a lot with travel agents, opened our own offices in Peru, Chile, Colombia and Panama, acquired an Asia specialist and became an agent for National Geographic for the Netherlands and Belgium. I think all those things came our way because of the love and energy we exude, and the refusal to give up or be negative about a situation. Even in the corona crisis, we continually focused on the positive. We founded a webshop, brewed our own beer, started traveling in Europe and North America... Only Oceania is still missing from our portfolio."
Hilda: "In addition, we have focused on sustainability since the beginning of Avila Travel. We always want to bring something to local people, nature or animals. Our logo consists of two green leaves for a reason. This is also one of the reasons National Geographic chose us as a partner. In addition to sustainability, personality is a high priority. We are big enough to guarantee customer security, but small enough to remain personal."
Tim: "Sustainability is something we are constantly working on, something we try to incorporate into everything we do. It's hard to get around the air travel debate with its CO2 emissions, which we try to offset with investments in green projects. But you can contribute a lot to wildlife protection and poverty alleviation at the destination itself. In Africa, for example, we choose safari lodges that contribute to wildlife protection and hotels that provide employment in local communities."
Hilda: "We are inspired by it ourselves. In Venezuela, for example, we purchased a small house, Casa Blanca, together with a friendly foundation. There, we offer eighty underprivileged children a daily meal and the chance to play a musical instrument, learn chess... We don't do this solely with private money: for each customer, we retain an amount that goes one-on-one to this project through a foundation. That has become a serious part of our business."
Tim: "In the beginning of Avila Travel, we deliberately chose a more luxurious product. After all, that fits better with customized travel, in which you invest more time. We slowly built up experience in that and expanded our network in it. That's how you create a brand, a feeling."
Hilda: "With us, exploration and relaxation go hand in hand. An exploration with a vacation feeling, is our slogan. So not one hotel on the beach, with us you will undertake a sophisticated expedition. Think, for example, of a trip where you join a biologist in search of the lynx in Spain."
Tim: "More than hotel-flight-rental-car, we focus on a trip where you really discover something, but in a comfortable way. Not only in terms of accommodations but also in the form of well-arranged, private services and excellent guides. But increasingly we are also simply organizing a beautiful hotel, on a Caribbean island for example, from where our regular customers go on an expedition and then relax for another week."
Hilda: "Another great example is a small-scale trip to Namibia, where our clients go in search of the Himba tribes under the guidance of photographer Jimmy Nelson. Fourteen days with only private flights and the best accommodations. Next year we will undertake a similar trip to Buthan with Jimmy. Another unique experience is expertly guided snorkeling with orcas in Norway."
Tim: "Or trekking to the Trolltunga, the 'troll tongue': one of the most breathtaking cliffs in Norway. The rock is about 1,100 meters above sea level and hangs 700 meters above a lake. Near the top you can sleep in luxury igloo tents, giving you that special place virtually to yourself in the morning or evening. That exclusive applies to all the destinations in our offerings. It's not cheap, but you get a unique experience in return. Another typical signature product is the cruises of the small-scale French shipping company Ponant, with which we collaborate. For example, you can take a hybrid icebreaker on an expedition to Greenland."
Hilda: "Those are the trips we took with our children."
Tim: "And there are a lot of them. Our oldest is seven and he has already seen about thirty countries. I honestly think traveling with your family is the best thing there is. Then you are away from the routine for a while, you have time for each other."
Hilda: "Who are you on vacation with and what is the feeling? That is often even more important than the destination. For example, we had the opportunity to plan a trip for a family with four children, whose father was terminally ill - it became the last trip of his life. After the trip they came to us to show us the photos. The father was no longer alive by then, but they had had an unforgettable trip. My best trip was with Isabella, when she was only six months old, to Chile. I had never been there before, even though my father is from there. I wanted to show our daughter to my family there. The first steps I took in Chile were at Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. I was just crying. I will never forget that."
Tim: "Antarctica is high on my list. I've never been there and that product is becoming more and more important for our travel company. Then it's good to get that experience myself. I also like to return to places. Then you can enjoy it even better, because then you don't feel the stress of 'I must have seen everything', but can experience it much more in peace. I would love to go back to the Galapagos Islands, which I think is one of the most beautiful places in the world. You spend half the day snorkeling and diving and the other half of the day being pampered."
Hilda: "My dream trip is Israel. I have a strong faith in Christ and would like to go to His birthplace."
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