About viventura Story
viventura is a network of tourism professionals in South America. Today it is one of the most widely recognized brands in the region. Discover how it all began.
Story | One idea & a lot of passion for South America
A
viventura: How did it all begin?
It was summer of 1999, Andre was studying business administration in tourism. Having learned how to organize tours professionally, he decided to strike out on his own, in the real world. Having always been passionate about South America, his travel destination was clear. After 12 months of preparation he was ready. In August of 2000, Andre, headed to Ecuador with his first tour, a group of 15 students from various European countries. The tour was a huge success, and viventura was born.
It was summer of 1999, Andre was studying business administration in tourism. Having learned how to organize tours professionally, he decided to strike out on his own, in the real world. Having always been passionate about South America, his travel destination was clear. After 12 months of preparation he was ready. In August of 2000, Andre, headed to Ecuador with his first tour, a group of 15 students from various European countries. The tour was a huge success, and viventura was born.
B
Birth of the company: The viventura website goes online
We already knew how hard it was to get the first tour organized and soon we realized it would be even more difficult to get our webpage created. With a team of four individuals, from three different countries, we worked on the website for six months, then on September 1st, 2001, viventura went live!
We already knew how hard it was to get the first tour organized and soon we realized it would be even more difficult to get our webpage created. With a team of four individuals, from three different countries, we worked on the website for six months, then on September 1st, 2001, viventura went live!
C
We start to grow: Maintaining our vision
We knew we had great tours, but that being successful wouldn't be easy. However, thanks to a great team and a lot of hard work we exceeded our expectations. By the end of 2002, we had 14 tours to Peru, with eight of them sold out. Despite our successful start, we wanted to expand our tours to other South American countries slowly. We needed to focus on the quality of our tours, as well as finding travel experts in the other countries. It took us four years. By 2006, we had created a network throughout the eight major South American destinations; a network that is still present today.
We knew we had great tours, but that being successful wouldn't be easy. However, thanks to a great team and a lot of hard work we exceeded our expectations. By the end of 2002, we had 14 tours to Peru, with eight of them sold out. Despite our successful start, we wanted to expand our tours to other South American countries slowly. We needed to focus on the quality of our tours, as well as finding travel experts in the other countries. It took us four years. By 2006, we had created a network throughout the eight major South American destinations; a network that is still present today.
D
Focus on South America: Going international
After having built this strong network of eight offices in South America, we asked ourselves: What now? We had kept our focus on quality, but could we maintain our standard of quality on another continent? We decided it would be better to concentrate on our passion and our expertise: South America. That's when we decided to offer our services in other languages. We placed the European sales office in Berlin, acting as both our legal and financial center for European sales. At the same time we began searching for passionate South American fans from various countries to help us offer our tours in their respective countries.
After having built this strong network of eight offices in South America, we asked ourselves: What now? We had kept our focus on quality, but could we maintain our standard of quality on another continent? We decided it would be better to concentrate on our passion and our expertise: South America. That's when we decided to offer our services in other languages. We placed the European sales office in Berlin, acting as both our legal and financial center for European sales. At the same time we began searching for passionate South American fans from various countries to help us offer our tours in their respective countries.
E
The Future: Where is viventura headed?
We will maintain our focus on quality, innovation and our commitment to responsible tourism. With our main office in South America, eight incoming partner offices throughout South America, a central European sales office in Berlin and our US office, our goal is to expanding our market to include the majority of Europe and the US. At the same time we want to further increase our support of the viSozial foundation and provide further collaboration with the various social and environmental projects in South America.
We will maintain our focus on quality, innovation and our commitment to responsible tourism. With our main office in South America, eight incoming partner offices throughout South America, a central European sales office in Berlin and our US office, our goal is to expanding our market to include the majority of Europe and the US. At the same time we want to further increase our support of the viSozial foundation and provide further collaboration with the various social and environmental projects in South America.
Your Contact
Team Memberviventura
What Does Our Name Mean?viventura is a derivative of 4 ideas:
- vive (to live)
- aventura (adventure)
- event (event)
- tour (tour)
Meet the Team
viventura is a team of professionals with one thing in common: a passion for South America. Get to know the team, from the person that answers the phone, to our colleagues researching, to the owners, we look forward to meeting you. To Team Feedbacks
3/28/11Lothar
This was our second trip with viventura. Before our trip, we read other travelers' feedback and thought "hmm...okay." The feedback seemed a little excessive at...
