The Italian National Tourist Board and Avanti Destinations have joined forces to launch an educational and promotional campaign that encourages travelers to visit four regions of Italy that typically welcome fewer tourists: Piedmont, Puglia, Sicily, and Umbria.
A new 46-page e-brochure, Italy Reimagined, is now available on Avanti’s agent portal and features a total of 16 customizable FIT itineraries, including seven brand-new trips. Also new to Avanti’s offerings are 10 hotels—some located in towns and villages never before offered by the company—plus 20 new experiences such as spa treatments, cooking classes, a “farmer for a day” activity, a 4-hour e-biking escorted tour, a sports car tour, truffle hunting, gastronomic walking tours, and tastings of artisanal chocolate, local cheese, wine and olive oil. Most of the itineraries are relatively short modules of three or four nights, designed to be combined with each other or added onto longer custom itineraries to other Italian destinations.
“Many people think that if they have been to Rome, Venice, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast, they’ve ‘done’ Italy when, in fact, they’ve only scratched the surface of this diverse country,” said Paul Barry, Avanti’s executive chairman, in press materials. “This joint promotion gives travel agents many new possibilities to recommend to their clients who loved their first or second trip to Italy. And they will get so much more out of their journey by going to less touristed, ‘undiscovered’ places.”
Of the seven new itineraries featured in the Italy Reimagined brochure, Piedmont, Puglia, Sicily, and Umbria each have a new 4-day/3-night “Taste of” package, which can be linked to create a tour of all four regions. The other new itineraries in these highlighted regions are Umbrian Excellence, Flavors of Puglia, and Senses of Sicily.
The 4-night Umbrian Excellence itinerary includes a stay in Perugia, the medieval walled capital of the region, and Norcia, where travelers stay in a resort featuring a Michelin-starred restaurant and spa. Highlights of this itinerary include a gastronomic walking tour of Perugia; a wine and olive oil tasting; and private transfer from Perugia to Norcia with a tour of Assisi, Montefalco and Spoleto along the way. The weeklong Flavors of Puglia itinerary will bring guests to Bari, Lecce, and their choice of countryside accommodations. This trip includes a private Bari walking tour with lunch in a local home; private tours of the white city of Ostuni and Alberobello; a mozzarella, pasta and focaccia-making class with dinner; and a 6-day car rental. Guests on the Senses of Sicily itinerary will spend six nights in Palermo and also at a “bio resort” just north of Agrigento offering wellness services and an organic garden. The trip includes a private Palermo walking tour, one massage, one cooking class, three dinners, a private tour of Greek ruins at Agrigento’s “Valley of the Temples”, and four days of car rental.
For more information, visit book.avantidestinations.com. Click here for some insider info on how Avanti Destinations and other tour operators are working to give their guests authentic local experiences around the world.
