
the Executives: A Dialogue with Majid
Andre Kiwitz: Building Ventura Travel - 23 Years of Redefining Sustainable Tourism in South America
In this episode of the Executives, I sit down with Andre Kiwitz, a German entrepreneur who founded Viventura in 2001 and grew it into the Ventura Travel empire. From a single trip in Ecuador to becoming the #1 tour operator for group trips in South America within just 2-3 years, Andre shares his journey of making travel more meaningful, locally impactful, and sustainable. 🎯 What You'll Learn: How Andre built Ventura from scratch in Peru after moving from Germany The philosophy behind small-group, authentic travel experiences How Ventura became #1 in South America within 2-3 years The VSocial Foundation's impact: building schools and supporting communities Behind the scenes of managing 100+ employees across multiple countries The difference between mass tourism and responsible travel Why Trip.me connects travelers with local guides differently Future plans: UK expansion, 3 new brand launches, and IPO in 2 years ⏱️ Chapters: 01:25 Introduction to Andre Kiwitz and Ventura Travel 09:24 25 years of Ventura Travels - Going back to the roots 11:10 WiFi vs Luggage - What if Andre lost one of these for a week? 13:24 How is Ventura Travel structured? 16:50 Difference between Fancy Travel Boards and Community-Based Tourism 22:01 Maintaining the quality of the trips across multiple brands 39:00 Buying assets of a business 42:11 Different kinds of business sellers 43:30 What is trip.me (now called Travel Local) 50:43 The Reality of a company going Public 53:40 How is Ventura Trave using AI 56:26 Market Size of Community-Based Tourism (Estimated to reach 2 Trillion by 2032) 59:34 Team is an asset to build an organization 01:02:09 Is Sustainability real or just marketing and greenwashing? 01:07:28 Most Impactful Story of Ventura Travel 01:08:47 Big Plans for Ventura Travel for the next years 01:10:17 Closing Remarks About the Guest Andre Kiwitz, the German entrepreneur who founded ViVentura in 2001 and grew it into the Ventura TRAVEL empire - a collection of niche travel brands that's redefining responsible tourism. From building schools in Peru through his VSocial Foundation to launching trip.me and revolutionizing how travelers connect with local guides, Andre has spent 23+ years making travel more meaningful and locally impactful. 📢 Connect with Andre Kiwitz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiwitz/ Ventura Travel: https://www.venturatravel.de/ 📢 Connect with Majid Mahmood: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/majid-m/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majidmofficial/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/majidmofficial Threads: https://www.threads.com/@majidmofficial Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/majidmpage Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@majidm_official Majid M: https://www.majidm.com 📢 Follow the Executives: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theexecutivespodcast Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theexecutives_podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theexecutives_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-executives-a-dialogue-with-majid/






