Mauro Galli is president and founder of TourCrafters, a tour operator specializing in Italy. Located in Libertyville, Ill., TourCrafters has been sending Americans to Europe for 34 years. Mr. Galli is also vice president of the Italian American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. He was awarded the prestigious honor of Ambassador of Rome, by the city’s mayor, for promoting the Eternal City throughout the world. He spoke recently with Italian Spin’s Michael Ardizzone about the state of travel to Italy, his company’s offerings and more.

 

Italian Spin: How important is tourism to the health of the Italian economy?

MG: It’s very important because it covers 30.4% of the bill of the country. It’s the single biggest factor that contributes to the overall bill of Italy, so it’s very, very important. There are some cities in Italy where the primary income is tourism.

 

IS: How can the tour industry to Italy be more efficient and effective?

MG: A lot of Americans are fascinated with Europe in general and Italy in particular. The demand is there, and that’s important, but it would also help to have Italian personnel working to sell tourism in the United States. Local people can work [to promote Italian tourism], but you need more people who have lived in the country and can answer questions from clients.

 

The Italian tourism effort also has to reach out more. It’s not just the big cities – New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston — that are important for marketing. It’s the other places – like Atlanta or Raleigh-Durham or Charleston — where people have the money to travel, but they need to be informed of how to structure their vacations.

 

IS: Which Italian destinations are “hot” with American travelers?

MG: The Tuscan countryside is very popular now; Cinque Terre, Sicily are all popular. The Apulia region and Umbria regions are getting there. In Italy overall, there are many places that have the potential to be the next huge destination. Apart from the specific destination, people like to experience new things, they like to meet local people, they like things related to gastronomy like wine and food, which every region in Italy is very rich in.

 

IS: What are some new products that Tour Crafters is offering?

MG: We have many new products that

we’re excited about. We service basically

the whole country, but we have many

options in the countryside – cooking

schools for example. They include food

walking tours, one of the new things that

people are looking for.

 

And again, gastronomy is popular, Tuscany especially, with wine tastings, cooking and

the whole food experience. We have food

and cooking in Apulia, in Umbria and Sicily. Culinary is a new, complete experience.

And now we’re offering (destination)

weddings. As a wedding destination,

Italy is very romantic.

 

We have a maximum escorted tour of 20.

That’s because there is a new wave of

traveler. They’ve traveled for a long time,

and now they’re getting older and don’t

want to deal with the aggravation of [independent] travel by themselves anymore. They want to travel by bus, but they don’t want the crowd of 50-60 people. So now we have tours with a maximum of 20, so travelers can have more control. And the tour guide can take care of the group more efficiently.

Along with the new products, we have an extremely good situation with seeing Italy by train. High-velocity train travel is a new way to travel very well in Italy – you can go from Rome to Florence in an hour and 15 minutes on a luxury train. Fast trains are a valuable option for travelers and so far it’s working out very well for us.