Welcome! Bienvenu! Jambo! Bula and Aloha!

If you have come to this page, you would like to know more about inventia.

My name is Stephanie Gräf and I am the owner and agent for travel beyond the ordinary at my own travel agency, inventia.

When I completed my training as a travel agent after graduating from high school at around the age of 20 (that was 30 years ago now ;-)), I learned tricks and behaviors that I knew right away I definitely didn't want to adopt and use.

For the travel agency where I did my training, the world of travel was limited to what was offered in the TUI catalog. Anything that wasn't in there either didn't exist or was second-rate and was sold only very reluctantly.

And that is exactly how the customer was treated:

If he regularly bought TUI, everything was fine and he was even greeted by the office manager.

Customers with requests that could not be fulfilled by the TUI catalog did not fare so well. When "one of those" entered the salesroom, the employees liked to hide behind their desks.

Once a trip was sold, the transaction was complete, and woe betide the customer if they came back with any questions.

Even back then, I was surprised by my colleagues' behavior. They were all so much more experienced than me and were supposed to show me how a travel agency works. I really learned a lot from them about the subject and the profession. I did not adopt their indifferent attitude toward customers.

I completed my training as a travel agent in January 1992 with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce certificate.

Now the world was my oyster

I wanted to grow beyond the narrow world of TUI travel agencies, travel the world, and see how tourism really works in different countries. I wanted to learn how hotels operate and gain as much experience as possible in international tourism.

First, I went abroad for various German tour operators (I changed "abroad" almost every season), worked there

• initially as a tour guide,
• then head tour guide,
• then Destination Manager.

I worked for 

• traditional tour operators (similar to TUI)
• for direct tour operators and large groups with daily full charter flights
• for cruise operators on cruise ships
• well-known international companies and designed their incentive trips.

My work suddenly became fantastic: I learned how to look after, guide, and lead tour groups, plan and implement trips, negotiate with incoming agencies, be creative, and master country-specific peculiarities and challenges in the interests of my customers.

I saw the most beautiful places, stayed in the best hotels, small palaces, and also in apartments right by the sea. I saw a lot in my twenties and seized and took advantage of every opportunity that came my way professionally.

After about 10 years in a wide variety of tourism companies and areas, I decided to become self-employed and founded my own travel agency.

In 2002, the time had come, and inventia was born.

How did I come up with this name?

• The root word "inven" comes from the Latin "invenire," which means "to invent."
• The subsequent "t" for travel
• The "ia" as a melodious ending

Even after almost 18 years of self-employment, I am still passionate about "inventia" as the name for my agency. It's just perfect.

Incidentally, 2002 was a particularly challenging time to start a business in the travel industry—9/11, the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, had occurred just four months earlier. There was virtually no interest in vacation or business travel. Nevertheless, things went exceptionally well from the outset. One exciting project followed another.

When I say "project," I mean assignments in the areas of incentive travel, international meetings, large and small corporate events—in other words, primarily business travel. My clients were generally companies and institutions. I already had a very good reputation in this field at the time, and even today, without ever having done any major marketing, I still receive interesting inquiries and lucrative assignments.

Here are just a few of the larger projects:

• I organized a full charter cruise through the Mediterranean for 1,300 Tchibo employees, with an extensive VIP program on land and an event program on board.
• I developed the VIP program for T-Mobile at the first Paris finish of the Tour de France (after Telekom).
• Für die FIFA bzw. das Organisationskomitee des DFB war ich beim „Deutschen Sommermärchen“ FIFA World-Cup 2006 auf Schalke als VIP-Betreuerin tätig (inkl. Küsschen von Mick Jagger <3).
• At the next international soccer event, I was primarily responsible for the VIP clients of the main sponsor (Credit Suisse) of the Swiss national team at the 2008 UEFA European Championship in Austria and Switzerland.
• I travel on behalf of many pharmaceutical companies as a project manager for international meetings and conferences (pharmaceutical events require specific expertise due to ethical regulations and complex reporting requirements).
• I developed quality standards for Club Bertelsmann and traveled around the world to implement them.
• I developed quality standards for guest services for several boutique and luxury hotels and trained the staff—particularly in complaint management.
• I taught retraining students about incentive travel and international tour guiding for a training institute.
• I wrote a special issue on incentive travel for ILS Fernakademie, Germany's largest distance learning university, as part of the distance learning course in event management (IHK).

All the experience gained from these projects is now incorporated into inventia's trips.

inventia stands for individual vacation trips with a high experience value.

I am often asked why I call my companya travel agency rather thana travel bureauortour operator. I am always happy to explain:

I attach great importance to distancing myself from traditional package tourism and the outdated structures of the German tourism industry.

On the Our Valuespage, you will find more detailed information about how we work with you. The most important points are:

• I do not enter into restrictive contracts with tour operators that impose minimum sales targets on me. I work exclusively on behalf of my customers and offer them the product they want and need for their trip (and not the product of the tour operator, where I still have sales to make).
• I am a tour operator (producer) myself, with all the necessary licenses and insurance. To ensure that your vacation runs smoothly, I tailor your trip individually for you, rather than offering catalog products.
• We pay attention to reliability and professionalism for you. That is why our portfolio of specialized third-party providers is small and select. Time and again, individual third-party providers have to leave our portfolio because they no longer meet our quality requirements. Sometimes we accept new providers.
• We are one of the few providers of insolvency-insured airline tickets in Germany. If an airline you have booked with becomes insolvent, the insurance will cover the cost and refund the ticket price to you.
• Special moments call for extraordinary trips. The truly exceptional hotels and travel experiences in the world are not off the shelf. We find them and make them easy and secure for our customers to book.
• Our trips are as individual as our customers. Whether we arrange a trip or organize it ourselves depends on the customer's wishes and the nature/content of their trip. We do not generally commit ourselves, but instead focus exclusively on the most suitable offer for you.
• Most of our customers book their vacations or trips for special occasions with us.
• However, we also work for companies in the business travel and events sector:
  • Concepts and implementation of incentive trips for groups or individual employees
  • Hotel research and coordination for large meetings and events (up to 2,500 people), including supporting programs
  • Flight bookings for international meetings, conferences, and events

My personal travel tip?

It's no secret that South America and Antarctica are my great loves.

I know that these regions are a blank spot on many people's personal maps.Antarcticais not a destination for everyone. And that's how it should be. If you would like to learn more about traveling to Antarctica, I have prepared something for you: In "10 answers to the most frequently asked questions about traveling to Antarctica,"you will find the initial insider knowledge you need to decide on the best trip of your life.

Directly behind Antarctica, and only slightly behind in my popularity ranking, is the Arctic: Greenland, Alaska, eastern Canada, Russia, Siberia—and, of course, theNorth Pole.

Of course, my travels don't end just beyond the North Pole and South Pole. Our world has so many surprises to offer, and every week on my website and in mynewsletter, I present a journey beyond the ordinary.

Now you know the most important things about me and inventia.

Let's stay in touch! Who knows, maybe you'll become one of my loyal readers or even a customer?

Travel better!
Yours, Stephanie "Travel Countess" Gräf