About Vonturi
Anthony Perez
Founder - Travel Concierge
From an Extraordinary town in the heart of the Rockies
Nestled away, deep in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, lies a unique little town called Crested Butte. A once promising mining town, who's coal reserves dried up in the 60s, left room for free spirits of all walks of life to find peace and harmony far away from the common culture of the time. The wild and free spirit of Crested Butte lives on as popularity grows attracted to the unusually steep and rugged ski resort, the larger than life summer wildflowers, the endless trails for biking and hiking and the peaceful mountain streams for fly fishing.
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In 2004, an ambitious young skier moves to Crested Butte with dreams to fully embrace the skiing lifestyle and feed his entrepreneurial spirit at the same time. Anthony Perez was a native of Minnesota searching for the best ski town in North America to plant his stake. With an instinctive passion for customer service, he quickly found a job as a concierge at a local hotel and began a career. A few years later, Perez starts an independent concierge service specializing in custom vacation planning, grocery delivery service and private transportation. Throughout a decade in business, Perez brought many first time travelers to the Crested Butte area exceeding expectations with outstanding lodging accommodations, world-class mountain adventures and the unbeatable dining.
Unique and authentic is the new norm
What Perez soon comes to realize is that most of his clients were in search of something unique and authentic. While past generations were attracted to standard comfort in hotel rooms, perfect groomers and heated sidewalks, his clients were actively looking to get off the beaten track. They wanted to escape from the typical mountain vacation and explore something a bit more rugged, which is why they chose Crested Butte over the typical Vail or Aspen. The type of trips Perez lined up would typically involve something out of the ordinary. One small wedding Perez planned involved a bride brought in by dogsled to a small wedding venue near a frozen mountain lake. Another milestone arrangement was a wedding proposal taking place in the most lush wildflower hike in Colorado between Crested Butte and Aspen. With over a decade of experience in guest satisfaction, there was only one direction left to go... worldwide!
Vonturi is created offering world-wide experiences
Vonturi was founded in late 2021 with ambitions to take adventurous travelers all over the world to far away destinations and create the most unique and authentic experiences imaginable. What makes Vonturi different from other tour operators is the network of local experts collaborating on each custom trip. Just like Perez did with travelers visiting Crested Butte, he connects with other independent local experts around the world to design a travel itinerary that simply can't be matched. Each personalized experience blends a healthy mix of thrilling outdoor adventure with comfortable luxury accommodations and an intriguing cultural experience. Imagine finishing a day of scenic mountain hiking through the Alps to return to a salt-water soaking pool, a Swedish massage and fine hors-d'oeuvres. Later that evening, the chef prepares authentic cuisine followed a local musical performance at the nearby concert hall. Each day is carefully planned to compliment the travelers' style and embrace the local culture. With adventure, luxury and culture in the forefront of each experience, there's no limit to what world adventure could be coming your way.
Commitment to Community
Every destination we visit needs some sort of extra support in some way to sustain the land and to support the community so that more people can enjoy the area without deterioration. Most tourist destinations suffer from negative environmental impacts with each visitor as well as community hardship like housing shortage, economic imbalance or increasing crime. Even the wealthy and stable resort town of Crested Butte is suffering a major socio-economic problem of the local workforce being squeezed out with very little local housing and the cost of living far out-weighing the starting wage. As a result, labor shortages are limiting the amenities at the ski area, closing established restaurants and slowing down the construction industry tremendously. With each Vonturi trip, a considerable contribution is made, under the name of the traveler, to a community-focused, non-profit organization in each area we visit. Each contribution helps the community in some way like offering socio-economic support with local housing or supporting social rights like health care or clean water. Be a part of the solution and give back to the community you visit.