A DMC with an in-house creative studio
Transport, hotels, venues, staffing and risk management are handled by the same company that designs the emotional peaks of the program.
About VAOVA
We turn Colombia into programs people remember.
VAOVA is Colombia's award-winning DMC for incentive travel, meetings, events, university treks and private journeys. We combine rigorous ground operation with an in-house creative studio that designs the Happenings guests keep talking about.
- 2013
- founded in Colombia
- 45
- people in-house across Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena
- 200+
- incentive travel, university trek and corporate retreat programs since 2013
- 180
- artists, community leaders and cultural collaborators connected through our work
Source: VAOVA internal records, last reviewed . Founding date: December 2013, Bogotá, Colombia. Headcount: 45 full-time staff across Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena offices. Program totals cover 200+ incentive travel, university trek and corporate retreat programs since 2013, including the 50+ MICE programs cited on VAOVA's Ovation Colombia profile. Collaborators: 180 artists, community leaders and cultural partners connected through VAOVA programs.
The company
Born in Colombia.
Built around connection.
VAOVA began in 2013 with a Colombian phrase that leaves little room for excuses: va o va, either you go or you go. It became a travel company built around a simple belief: Colombia changes when people experience it well.
Our mission is to transform the image of our destinations by creating memorable experiences that connect people. That means showing Colombia through its cities, landscapes, artists, founders, communities, food, music and living culture.
Today, VAOVA operates incentive programs, meetings, corporate events, university treks and private journeys with own teams in Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena, and program reach across the country.
Founded by Juan Pablo Toro, founder & ceo, vaova.Read the 10-year anniversary release.
What we do
One DMC. Several ways to experience Colombia.
The surface changes depending on the client. The discipline stays the same: destination design, operations, risk management and emotional moments under one roof.
Incentive travel
Reward programs for international companies and incentive houses, designed around Colombia's cities, landscapes, culture and our signature Happenings.
ExploreMeetings & events
Corporate offsites, executive meetings, retreats, galas, conference side-events and brand moments with full DMC ground operation.
ExploreUniversity treks
Large and small university programs for MBA, graduate, executive education and faculty-led groups discovering Colombia.
ExplorePrivate journeys
FIT and leisure group travel for clients who want Colombia designed with the same operational rigor as our corporate programs.
Explore
The Happenings
Our way of bringing art into travel.
Happenings are inspired by the artistic movement that took art out of galleries and into public life. At VAOVA, the idea becomes a travel methodology: surprising, emotional, artistic actions that make guests active participants in the destination.
A Happening can involve musicians, dancers, chefs, actors, artisans, community leaders or local storytellers. We work with them so guests meet Colombian culture through a performance or a shared experience — not only through a transfer and a dinner.
What makes us different
Creative by design. Operational by discipline.
VAOVA sits between destination management, creative direction and cultural production. That combination is the reason the programs feel specific instead of generic.
Happenings developed by our in-house studio
A Happening is an artistic moment built from local culture, artists, music, movement, food, story and surprise. The studio adapts it to the group and the night.
Colombia designed with purpose
Our mission is to transform the image of our destinations by creating memorable experiences that connect people, communities and culture.
Local operation, international buyer standards
We operate with bilingual teams, private transportation, vetted routes, contingency planning and the discipline expected by global companies and agencies.
Purpose & values
Tourism should leave people better connected.
These values guide how we design programs, choose partners and introduce Colombia to international travelers.
The studio sits inside the DMC
Concept, art direction, choreography and production stay with the same four-person Happenings team that will be on site.
Staffed in the cities we sell
Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena have their own offices and people. A Cartagena gala is not planned from Bogotá, and a Medellín closing is not run by a team that flew in that morning.
We will say no to the destination
If the brief is better served by another country, or by a corridor we cannot operate to corporate standard, we say so before the program is built. Protecting the buyer matters more than filling a date.
The contribution has a name
Every traveler funds a community-led project we can point to: mangroves in La Boquilla, the Guatapé Symphony Band, or agroecological coffee work at El Observatorio El Cafetal. Not a general pledge.
Recognition
Credentials that help buyers trust the first call.
- SITE Crystal Award 2026 · Excellence in Incentive Travel: Latin America & Caribbean
- 3x ProColombia tourism recognitions · 2020, 2021 and 2025
- SITE Member · Society for Incentive Travel Excellence
- Ovation Global DMC · Trusted Strategic Partner for Colombia
- International representation in USA, UK, Benelux, Poland and Brazil
About VAOVA FAQ
Questions buyers ask before trusting a DMC.
- What does VAOVA do?
- VAOVA is a Colombia-based DMC that designs and operates incentive travel, meetings, corporate events, university treks and private journeys. The company combines full ground operation with an in-house creative studio for custom artistic moments called Happenings.
- What is a Happening?
- A Happening is VAOVA's signature artistic moment inside a program: a surprise, ritual, performance, cultural reveal or emotional peak designed from the destination and produced for that specific group. The concept comes from an artistic movement that took art out of galleries and into lived public experience.
- Is VAOVA an award-winning DMC?
- Yes. VAOVA won the SITE Crystal Award 2026 for Excellence in Incentive Travel in Latin America & Caribbean and has received three ProColombia tourism recognitions. VAOVA is also a SITE member and Ovation Global DMC's Trusted Strategic Partner for Colombia, with dedicated international representation in the United States, United Kingdom, Benelux, Poland and Brazil.
- Where does VAOVA operate in Colombia?
- VAOVA operates across Colombia, with core destination strength in Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena and the Coffee Region, plus selected extensions depending on air access, safety, seasonality and the operational needs of the group.
- What makes VAOVA different from a standard travel agency?
- VAOVA is not only an itinerary planner. It combines DMC logistics, destination expertise, venue and supplier coordination, bilingual operations and an in-house Happenings studio that designs the emotional moments guests remember.
Work with VAOVA