Q&A provided by Joseph Walker:
Director and Founder of Italy Revealed
1) Why use a Travel Professional?
Only a travel professional is able to match your needs and desires up with available solutions and options as well as make important suggestions of things that you should not miss. We have deep expert knowledge of the destinations we offer and know where all of the hidden gems are located that you will not find in mundane guidebooks or by searching for hours in the cacophony of information that is the internet today. We help distinguish between the wheat and the chaff quickly and efficiently. Other reasons would include:
- Save Money – Time is money and while it may be fun to do one’s own research, international travel is an investment of time and memories. Italy Revealed saves you a lot of time and has special pricing for various services in the countries that we offer.
- Use of bonafide services and products – On the web there are a lot of offers that promise the stars at a great price. We know which services are authorized and which services are “too good to be true.” Most importantly, we help you understand the pricing and levels of services so that you get the best service for the best price. There can be an enormous difference between services that are just a few dollars a part. International travelers should protect their investments and memories by using expert advice and doing it right the first time.
- Customer Service – We are ready and able to serve you and provide you with the best possible customer service. In our destinations of expertise, we offer the best advice to make your travel truly special. Our travel experience and decades of service are yours to utilize. We will always go that extra step, or that extra mile, for our guests.
- Expertise – As with any professional service, we usually get what we pay for. We at Italy Revealed are absolute professionals in our destinations of expertise. Both travel agents and final clients utilize us a top resource for up-to-date and accurate information. Why would you go to a non-expert for expert advice? One example amongst several would be that the Italy Revealed and its personnel have conducted tours for over 20,000 groups over the years and the owner of the Italy Revealed has personally set up and or guided tours for Hollywood stars, music stars, NBA stars, and even top politicians. Trust and expertise truly matter when travelling internationally.
2) Do I pay extra to use your services?
You pay nothing extra at all! We have negotiated rates with hotels and ground suppliers and we buy in bulk. This savings is passed on to you in the form of time and money savings.
3) Isn’t it easier just to go online and book services?
No, because when you travel internationally, you have expectations of a smooth running program that meets your needs. Without expert advice, we tend to concentrate on a hotel for example and not on the hotel level, location, and quality of the hotel, as well as the transfers, tours, and quality of the tour guides and even the program itself. Italy Revealed can usually provide you with inside expert information that is very difficult to know without decades of travel experience. After all, we have lived in these destinations, travelled extensively in these destinations for decades, and have expert collaborators on the ground working 24/7. Travel is an experience of several elements and when put together by a professional, it is easy to arrange and usually goes super well! An online booking service can only focus on the “ease” of booking because they themselves have almost zero idea of the products they are actually selling.
4) What is the difference between an Online Travel Agency, a traditional Travel Agency, and a Tour Operator?
- An online Travel Agency is one of the plethora of online travel sites that offer hotel and flights but almost zero customer service. If you need assistance while on the road, you will be hard pressed via an online travel agency. They promote ease of booking and do not pretend to be experts of any destination because they are not. You therefore need to be an expert to adequately use an online travel agency site and even then, you still have near zero customer service or on location assistance. What if something going wrong? A slick commercial and marketing campaign on TV will not be able to assist you.
- A traditional travel agency is usually a brick and mortar agency that prides itself in delivering quality customer service. They provide airline tickets as well as programs and packages through partner Tour Operators. While not the destination experts, they find, to the best of their ability, Tour Operator programs that meet the needs of their clients. Many trusted travel agencies use Italy Revealed for their clients.
- A Tour Operator is the creator of travel products and usually sells to their guests through travel agencies. A Tour Operator generally has vast and in-depth expertise in the countries where it offers products. In this sense, a Tour Operator is a wholesaler. The Italy Revealed is a Tour Operator with expertise in Italy, but also through its parent company the Walker Travel Group, we can help you in France, Brazil, and Argentina. One must though always be careful of the Tour Operators who offer services in a dozen or more countries. They will usually not have the in-depth expertise that guests need and look for when travelling.
ITALY REVEALED is proud to be real destination expert.
5) Can just any Agency or Tour Operator help me in destinations such as Italy?
No. A travel agency must use a real destination expert like Italy Revealed that can create programs, alter programs, have negotiated services and provide 24/7 service on location. Likewise, just because a Tour Operator offers a destination, this does not mean it is a real expert. I would look at the bio of some of the team members of a tour operator as well as how many destinations they offer. A Tour Operator that offers too many destinations is a master of none in most cases. Italy Revealed focuses on where it has unparalleled knowledge and service capability. If we are asked for a destination where we feel we are not an expert, we will recommend the services of professional friends who truly are able to meet the guests’ needs.
6) What other services can Italy Revealed provide me with?
- Making recommendations for our guests concerning a specific tour or program.
- Letting our guests know travel formalities that may be needed.
- Simplifying the research process via our expert and inside knowledge.
- Providing solutions for difficult solutions before or when travelling.
- Provide on location support.
The Italy Revealed has offices in both Italy and the USA, with its main headquarters located in Atlanta, Georgia. We are true Italy specialists with more than 20+ years of experience that we can share with you today. Protect your travel investment and your lifetime memories, travel with the experts of the Italy Revealed.
115 D, New Street, Decatur, GA 30030
Joseph Walker's Italy Revealed® is a registered Trademark of the Walker Travel Group LLC. No information from these pages may be used or transmitted without the express written consent of the Walker Travel Group LLC - 2009-2010©
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