Who
we are
Frontera is Spanish for “border”. An edge.
The furthest point we know of or can reach on something.
Some fronteras are drawn by geography, others by circumstance; some are imaginary, others delimited. Some we choose ourselves; others are imposed.
And through my life and journey, I have come to believe that I am made of many frontiers in all of its meanings.
And that we all are ourselves, a mix of fronteras:
We connect with cultures, stories, knowledge… people.
We are all tourists and hosts, travellers and locals, natives and migrants-- at some point. Even if we don’t cross a border.
It is this feeling of one's self being a bridge and a mix that led me to the name.
For Frontera, Yucatan means the Peninsula as a whole -- Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche -- a region connected by geography, history and culture, but made up of many distinct places, traditions and identities.
Our Values
We believe travel should be shaped with care around the connection between people + place + culture, and the impact it leaves behind for everyone. With enough room for that little personal 'magic' to happen :)
1) Small-Scale Focus
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We believe the people who live in a place should have a meaningful role in how that place is experienced, represented and opened to tourism.
For us, that begins in the Yucatan Peninsula: with Yucatecan knowledge, local families, friends, businesses, and people on the ground who understand not only where to go or what to eat, but the culture, stories, changes and everyday realities behind a place.
And wherever Frontera works in the future, the principle stays the same: the destination should never become merely a backdrop
2) Local, Yucatecan Focused
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Travel has the power to change both sides of the journey.
Whenever we can, we choose smaller operators, family-run businesses, independent guides, creatives, and people whose livelihoods are directly connected to the places travellers come to experience.
It does not mean small-scale only. Sometimes a larger provider may simply be the right choice. What matters is that scale, convenience or margin should never automatically come before people, quality and the locals
3) Fair & Honest
Pricing and Access
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Travel creates memories, friendships and experiences that can stay with us for a lifetime, at any age.
We do not believe every meaningful experience needs to be turned into a premium or luxury product. And it is ok to seek luxury and top-shelf experiences; we all want to feel pampered and enjoy the fine things in life, but I do not think everything has to be “luxury” and priced as such -- especially when it comes to families and children.
Our aim is to price fairly and transparently: fairly for the traveller, fairly for the people doing the work, and enough for the businesses involved to prosper.
The same principle applies to how we cooperate with others. As Frontera grows, we want partners and collaborators to understand what they are being paid, what we are earning, and how the relationship works.
Because creating value should never depend on squeezing it from somebody else, with practices such as surveillance pricing, unchecked dynamic pricing, hidden extras, enshittification of products, etc.
4) Our AI Promise: Strictly Controlled
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We use AI where it can help a small, family-run business stay organised: calendars, logistics, double-checking our grammar, structure of work, etc.
Crucially, the conversations, communication, writing, creative decisions, research and judgement behind Frontera are human and done by other humans we trust -- and it is our point of view that it should always be that way in our industry.
However, AI is still a useful tool and for better or worse, is here to stay with us.
My promise is this: we use AI to stay organised, not to think, talk, or design, and especially not to talk to you.
You can be sure that a real person is always behind the screen for you and that no AI will be listening/reading our conversations.
Hola!
I’m Fernando Palma
And I am a child of many frontiers:
I come from the Yucatan and its 3 States, a region with a very strong sense of identity within Mexico, which is in itself a richly diverse country.
Then, lived and worked for 5 years in the great city of London, which is also in itself a frontier within the UK, and now I am at Berlin, Germany, so famously divided and re-united.
Frontera is a reflection of what I believe in as a person, as a traveller and as a professional.