About Us
Our philosophy of community based tourism ventures
Our passion
We are passionate about social, responsible and sustainable tourism. Through different projects and efforts of the partners of this initiative we aim to support local and community based tourism ventures, in order to improve impact on the local economy, the management of natural resources and the well-being of the communities.
Our Purpose: to work together with the local communities to design and offer highly authentic tourism experiences off the beaten track.
To create one booking platform, Fairtrips, where those community initiatives will have one place to market and sell their tourist products, thus contributing to sustainable community self-realization and the creation of additional income.
Fairtrips is managed by the Community and Sustainable Tourism Foundation (CSTF) which is a joint effort by a group of tour operators, community tourist ventures and non-profit organizations working collaboratively in the execution of projects that contribute to the commercialization and improvement of Community Based Tourism (CBT) products.
What it means to travel with Fairtrips
Giving our communities full control of their tours is an important part of our philosophy, and we kindly ask you to keep this in mind when visiting your hosts. Not we, but the hosts themselves plan their tours. It is them who decide which doors they will open for you and how far off the beaten paths they will take you. This is why every tour will be slightly different, and why we cannot give you any guarantee of the experiences. All our itineraries are approximations of what you will experience. Please also be mindful that our communities oftentimes are in highly remote areas and not used to tourism or foreigners visiting them. Please respect their traditions, culture, and privacy. Most tour operators are unable to offer the possibility to connect to indigenous communities on such as level as we do, let alone to sleep in their homes.
Lastly, please know that thanks to your trip, good things are happening in the destination. Your trip is an investment into the people, their community, and their country. Family fathers can stay with their family in remote areas thanks to income from community-based tourism and no longer have to work in the big city half the year. Animals and nature get protected thanks to the economic benefit of preserving them for travelers. The rights of indigenous people get respected, as they draw the attention of our clients.
Our promises to you
Safe, Secure & Quality
All community experiences follow very strict safe and secure protocols as well as quality best practices
Certified Quality by TourCert
All communities follow the sustainable tourism guidelines of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and are checked by TourCert®
Community-Based Experiences
Meet real local communities, feel their true culture. and learn what life is like for them.
What you will see
The team
All of our team has a passion for community-based tourism. But don't take our word for it. Get to know the team and their descriptions, so you can see how much passion our travel specialists have for this topic. You truly are in good hands!
Andre Kiwitz
CEO & Founder
Authentic Travel & Modern Entrepreneurship
Andre founded Viventura - the first Ventura TRAVEL brand - while still a student out of a desire to make trips more fun and show travelers the real South America. On the ground there, he set up different offices that took care of travel organization, trip development and customer service. He moved back to Berlin in 2012 and, three years later, he founded Ventura TRAVEL. Since then, he has been supporting tourism professionals who have a passion for a specific tourism niche to build their brands within Ventura. Through this construct, these "intrapreneurs" develop their vision for their destinations, while having an experienced team with professional infrastructure on the background for areas such as finance, marketing, IT, and HR. Privately, Andre enjoys spending time with his wife and son and tries to eat good ceviche as often as possible.