The Touvenir Story

My name is Louisa and I own Touvenir. I moved to Estepona from the UK before Brexit and it was the best move I have ever made. 

Estepona is such a beautiful town and I live showing my friends around. As a confirmed foodie, I'd take them to some wonderful Spanish resturants where we would enjoy delicious food and wine. My house Casa Florestos (see above photo), has a very pretty terrace at the front. People stop to take photographs outside and usually look very lost. This gave me the idea for Touvenir, which started out as a walking tours business. 

I have always had a passion for food. My family were in catering and hospitality and I have owned a bar/restaurant, a cafe, a B&B and holiday flats. I've also travelled all over the world as a consultant with some of the biggest food and drink companies including Nestle, Pepsico, Arla and Associated British Foods. So, it was not surprising that I soon combined walking tours with food, and kicked off the first regular tapas tour of Estepona in early 2021. 

Touvenir was founded on the belief that travel should broaden the mind. This only happens if you gain an understanding of the culture of the places you visit. Visit the sights and you will only see the outside. To get a real feel for the place you need to know about the inside, things like everyday family life, customs and the vaguaries of language. "Experience, Learn, Discover" sums up the Touvenir approach perfectly.

So, what's unique about Touvenir experiences? Take cookery classes for example. They are taught by a Spanish cook who provides unique insights into Spanish family life while imparting tips for perfect paella. On the Mystery Tapas Tour you will rarely hear any English spoken aside from at our table, because we go off the beaten tourist track. All of our experiences are created with quality in mind, so our customers get decent food and drink in decent measure. Our experiences are also relaxed and informal with a healthy dose of fun and laughter. These are just some of the reasons why customers keep coming back.

2022 has seen Touvenir go from strength to strength and expand its' range of experiences to include cookery classes which have been extremely successful. 2023 will see the introduction of food and drink focussed trips as well as art and craft classes with Spanish themes, held at the stunning Casa Florestos.

Estepona (also Head Office), now has a strong and loyal team with many year experience of business managament and activity creation. It will continue to grow and will also beeomc a testing ground for new products and services.

Our central support team will provide IT, administation and training for new experience hosts and entrepreneurs running their own Touvenir business under licence.

Touvenir will sonn expand operations to Marbella and Malaga. Brighton and London are also on our list.