Tempo Holidays elevates Italy and France for 2007

Tempo Holidays has expanded its experiential travel program in the soon to be released 2007 Italy France & Malta brochure, with their new brochure also featuring an even wider selection of premium packages and encourages travellers to savor the customs, cuisine and culture of the regions.

In Italy, seven new “high-end” itineraries focusing on food and wine (some with cooking classes) are brochured as Luxury Self Drive with an optional offer for a private driver. The 7 days Gastronomic Amalfi Coast package, for example, is priced from $2795 per person twin share and includes wine tasting, limoncello production, pizza making and buffalo mozzarella production.

Similarly, among the new additions in France are, a 6 days Gastronomical Discovery of the Loire Valley and Bordeaux with 4 star chateaux accommodation and chauffeur guide (from $6216 per person 2 people travelling together, twin share)  and 7 days fully inclusive Luxury Canal Barging package with an on-board chef (from $5622 per person twin share).

France Product Manager, Luisa Ragusa said these additional stylish experiences were designed for Tempo’s growing end-client base of second/third time travellers now wishing to immerse themselves in the culture and food of a particular region after again staying a few nights in Paris.

“France is scattered with great village experiences where travellers can make their own discoveries,” she said. “Regional France’s hilltop villages and valleys certainly deliver the ‘wow’ factor.”

Three cycling tours have been added in France to meet demand from the same discerning traveller market, she said. One of these is the 8 days Discovery of Dordogne, priced from $1808 per person twin share. An 8 days Coast to Coast fully escorted tour (from $5484) is also new.

Overnight tour to the Landing Beaches at Omaha and Arromanches (from $671) and accommodation at Albert (from $227) in the heart of the Somme, have been added for travellers seeking battlefields experiences. A new 2 days Lourdes in Liberty tour (from $506) from Paris is for religious devotees.

With Emirates and Singapore Airlines flying into Milan, Tempo has added a 3 days Taste of Milan package (from $378) which allows travellers to fly into Milan and depart from Rome.

Italy Product Manager, Eric Langen said the new package was introduced to cater to travellers using Milan as their gateway and entry point instead of Rome.  He expects this to be popular because it provides a one-way route to explore the top half of Italy, negating the need to backtrack to the customary entry-exit port of Rome.

Among other additions to Italy product are 40 new hotels/apartments over Rome, Venice and Florence, and more hotels in Calabria.

Contemporary-styled properties Hotel Art by the Spanish Steps in Rome (from $307 per person twin share per night) and the stunningly-located Relais Blu Belvedere outside Sorrento (from $221) as well as the 5 star Hotel Cipriani in Venice (from $844) and the Hotel Borghese Palace Art in Florence (from $148). are among the new hotels.

Posarelli properties in Tuscany gives Tempo access to over 500 villas, one of Tempo’s most popular accommodation styles.

There are also a host of new tours in Italy such a 9 days luxury Rome-Rome fully escorted tour to the Amalfi Coast (from $4543) and one day private guided walking tours in Cinque Terre ($195) to name a few.

The food-history luxury self drive concept has been extended to Sicily as well. Chocolate making, local wines, cheese making and cooking classes are packaged with four star accommodation, 12 meals, and guided visits to ancient temples and key cities in a new 8 days itinerary. The food experiences are also available as stand alone product.

Report by The Mole