What happens if Selected Tours comes to the rescue?

Selected Tours Italy – Your Peace of Mind

As 2022 begins to unfold itself, I think it’s important to stress from this point that on a daily basis, we are looking to constantly evolve our business, look for avenues of growth, and most importantly remember that we need to draw a line in the sand (metaphorically of course), to enable us to move on from the pandemic that has blighted us since late 2019/early 2020!

Personally, I know from my own experiences that it has been a time for reflection, a time to appreciate what I already have. It fuelled a real desire to grow, improve and work on exciting projects that will bring the people to Italy and its many beautiful villages, towns, and cities over the course of 2022 and beyond.

I know that people are worried about everything regarding Covid-19, the freedom of movement from their own countries to Italy, as well as moving around Italy during these challenging times, but quite honestly, it couldn’t be simpler, please make sure you follow the guidelines, ensure that you are vaccinated, and that before you set off that you have a negative test, leading to you being ready to visit our wonderful country, and its many spectacular sites.

So, where do we begin?  If you have an idea about where you want to go, the dates you wish to travel, and the budget you have to work with, then as we said it really couldn’t be much simpler! (as one of my favorite quotes in a movie goes – Field of Dreams – “Build the field, and they will come!”)

Now, I know from being within the industry for over 25 years, and experiencing what it is like working on the floor (an experienced tour guide), and the addition of running Selected Tours for most of the 20+ years, it means that when you contact us, you are reaching out to a ‘real’ company, with real people, who really have your best interests at heart, meaning that your experiences are taken care of 110% every time, instead of not having an actual contact to speak to should anything not go to plan.

With this in mind, one of the major pitfalls that we see and encounter on a regular basis, is when prospective customers, or customers who have faced the challenges of booking through the online travel companies, don’t have a person to speak to face to face, and instead are expected to call a number, or email someone who might not even have a base on the ground in Italy.

Now that clients know that we go the extra mile for them as a company, we are always happy to say that if anything happens whilst you are in Italy, you know that you can rely on us to support you no matter the circumstance you find yourselves in.

A further example of this happened only a few weeks ago with one of our newest clients, Mr Kallal, from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America. Both Ed and his wife were ‘first timers’ when it came to using Selected Tours as their chosen travel partners. Their vacation was penciled in for December 2021 and January 2022, enabling them to experience many of the sites and locations around both Florence and Rome. During the early part of their vacation, it was a really enjoyable experience for them, where they were able to visit some of the sites that we had planned for them during their stay here in Italy.

However, what they weren’t expecting was the actual reality of Ed testing positive for Covid, and the need to go into isolation for the required time period, as set out in the guidance provided by the Italian government (thankfully for Ed’s wife, she tested negative), but this is where we really came to the rescue for Ed and his wife (who left the country having had a negative test).

So what did we do? Basically, do what it says on the tin (What you see is what you get!) it started with us going the ‘extra mile’ for Ed, ensuring that he was both comfortable whilst isolating, but also being able to have all the ‘essentials’ available to him, during his stay in the apartment that we found for him in Rome (this was something of a challenge, when you tell some owners that the person staying has had a positive Covid test!) 

Alongside the need to find Ed an apartment, we had to register with the ASL Health Care Centre (if you don’t register with the health centre, then you aren’t allowed to start your 10 days of isolation). From here, and I doubt very much you would get this via one of the online travel companies, we literally went above and beyond by supplying Ed with groceries, medicines, and finding home testing kits (quite rare at this time). Nevertheless, we still managed to get them for Ed, then importantly, we were also able to register all of the necessary information on the official Italian medical site.

Why do we do this? It’s a simple and easy reply, because we care, because through our vast experiences within our small team, we really want to treat you and your families, friends and travelling companions like our family. Being so conscientious, provides that real ‘peace of mind’ for everyone who wants the best possible Italian experience, supplied by Selected Tours.

Post Ed’s isolation period, we are pleased to say that he provided a negative test, enabling him to leave home (now here, you would think Ed would want to return to Atlanta, GA) however, because we delivered on our ‘promise’, ensuring that Ed felt like he was ‘home from home’, Ed graciously, decided to extend his stay in Rome, so that he could experience everything that we had promised him and his wife during their vacation.

We would just like to say here, that we really want to go the extra mile for everyone, and we know that you can get things cheaper if you scour the internet for a few hours, but can you get all of the above, and so much more from these companies in the middle of the biggest global pandemic?

Well, the answer to the above is dependent on whether you want to just take our word for it, or you are willing to listen to a real customer, having experienced a real life scenario in a foreign country, where you would think that the language barriers would be another issue to overcome!

If you want to know how we can help you plan a fantastic vacation in Italy, experiencing the best that Selected Tours can offer you, please feel free to get in touch, and remember 2022 is the year to ‘live life to the fullest!’

Ana Serra

Selected Tours Italy

Click and read the story from his point of view