Civitatis, the leading platform for tours and activities in Spanish and Portuguese worldwide, has announced its incorporation into the board of members of OCTO (Open Connectivity for Tours, Activities and Attractions), with the aim of further improving how technology connects travellers, agencies, and local experience providers.
By joining OCTO, Civitatis becomes part of a select group of more than 80 international companies -including major OTAs, tech firms and tour operators- that actively collaborate to promote simpler, safer, and more scalable connectivity within the tours and activities sector.
OCTO’s purpose is clear: to ensure that platforms and providers speak a common digital language, reducing connection times and improving the overall efficiency of the process. In this context, Civitatis’ incorporation represents a decisive step forward in its strategy to offer more open, collaborative, and sustainable technology.
“At Civitatis, connecting our business partners and suppliers in a fast, scalable and reliable way is one of the pillars of our technological strategy,” explains Enrique Espinel, COO of Civitatis. “Adopting OCTO’s standards allows us to move towards a shared infrastructure that accelerates partner integrations, improves data quality and simplifies the entire connection process. Ultimately, we’re helping to build a more efficient, collaborative ecosystem that’s ready for the future of digital tourism.”
A decisive step towards more agile and scalable connectivity
Through its participation in OCTO, Civitatis will play an active role in the working groups where ideas are exchanged and new improvements to the standard are developed. This involvement reinforces the company’s commitment to innovation and digitalisation, while ensuring that the needs of Spanish-speaking markets are represented in the evolution of the standard.
For experience providers, this adoption means a more robust, faster, and flexible connection: they will be able to synchronise their inventory, availability, and pricing with Civitatis more easily, with real-time updates and fewer manual processes.
For distribution partners (agencies and affiliates), OCTO will significantly reduce integration times (Time-to-Go-Live) and provide standardised access to Civitatis’ global catalogue, with less technical friction and greater operational reliability.
“We’re delighted to welcome Civitatis to the OCTO community,” says Robin Harnish, Executive Director of OCTO. “Their leadership in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets brings a vital perspective to building a truly global standard. We share the same goal: ensuring technology works for people by creating simpler, more open, and mutually beneficial connections for everyone across the travel ecosystem.”
The collaboration between OCTO and Civitatis reflects a shared vision: to unite technology and human expertise to create a more connected, sustainable tourism industry focused on the quality of the traveller experience. At a time when digitalisation is redefining how people plan and enjoy their trips, cooperation between leading companies is key to driving innovation and responsible growth across the industry.
