Seconda Prova An itinerary in some Italian art cities

Remember branding?

• In your circular letter you introduce yourselves to a potential customer and you promise something.

!

• Remember to KEEP your PROMISE!

So, before you start writing your itinerary, ask yourselves:

What did I promise in my circular letter?!

Or, even better, write your circular letter at the end, after you’ve finished detailing your itinerary.

If you start your letter saying: “Are you tired of the same old package tours year after year?”!

You can’t write a very traditional itinerary where your customers just go sightseeing in the main art cities in Italy or Tuscany, visit museums, and don’t do anything special!

So, how can I make my itinerary special?

• Include a special event (the opening of an exhibition in a museum, where you meet the curator of the exhibition, or even the artist himself/herself, as it often happens in Sete Sois Sete Luas and other Art Galleries; a typical festival or a “Palio”)

• Include something special during the visit to a museum, for instance an art workshop where an expert teaches you to reproduce one of the masterpieces you are admiring in the museum

• Include some evening activities (special themed dinners, a Renaissance dinner, Renaissance dancing, moonlit drawing sessions, cosplay etc.)

The language• Don’t think in Italian!

• If you do, you get things which don’t make any sense in English, such as:

“a good report between quality and price”

“the arrive to Pisa airport is foreseen at the 20.00 o’clock”

• To avoid this kind of mistakes, study the vocabulary and the most common expressions such as:

“Our package is great value” or “We will land at Pisa airport at 8pm”

The language

• Don’t use “everyday language”, use tourist vocabulary and expressions

Don’t say: “You have the plane at 8am, a transfer brings (takes) you to the airport at 6am”

Say: “Your plane takes off at 8am, so a private transfer will be waiting for you at 6am in front of your hotel”

• Avoid verbs like see, go, eat (especially EAT): use synonyms: admire, marvel at, take a look at / reach, head to, get to / have lunch, have dinner, enjoy some typical Tuscan food, taste some delicious sweets

The language

• Don’t say:

“We enclose a copy of our brochure where there is information about our itinerary”

• Say:

“We enclose a copy of our brochure where you can find detailed information about our itinerary”

The language

• Avoid using “there is” / “there are” all the time!

Don’t say: “Inside the tour there are some events and other extra activities like shopping to savour every aspect of our region”

Say: “ Our tour includes some special events and other extra activities such as evening shopping in the heart of the city, to savour every aspect of our region”

Don’t say: “Inside the cathedral there is a magnificent marble altar”

Say: “The cathedral houses a magnificent marble altar from the Renaissance period”

The language

• Some words you should ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS (even under torture) avoid in English:

COMPOSE / COMPOSED (as a verb)

It’s an Italianism! Don’t say: “Our qualified staff is composed of two guides and a personal manager.”

Say: “Our team is made up of two qualified guides and an experienced personal manager”

Geographical names:

Use English for place names referring to famous cities: Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin!Use the original language for Streets or Squares: Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Venezia, Via Condotti, Avenue de Champs Elysées, Place de la Bastille etc.

How to make your itinerary more personal? more appealing?

• Use specific information:

Instead of saying: “You will have dinner in a little restaurant in the city centre”

Say: “At 8 pm you will have dinner in a beautiful restaurant called Onda Blu situated on a cliff, where you can taste the numerous seafood dishes”

Instead of saying: “In the afternoon we visit the Uffizi Gallery, where we can admire different kinds of paintings”

Say: “In the afternoon we are going to visit the Uffizi Gallery, where we can admire breathtaking masterpieces, including the world-famous Venere by the Italian artist Botticelli”

Add the personal touch!• When you describe the hotel, think about something

special your hotel may have or offer. For instance, if your hotel is in Venice, you may say:

“In every room you will find lamps made with Murano glass”

• Think about what you like and add something personal! If you like partying, add a closing party to your itinerary: “From 9pm to midnight, we will have a closing party full of surprises!”

• If you like fashion, add a visit to the Fashion Week in Milan or Florence: “Our tour offers you a fantastic experience, the possibility to take part in the Fashion Week in the Pitti Palace. Italy is well-known for fashion, so why not admire stands of designers like Armani, Gucci, D&G? You can see fashion shows, get to know the new collections and be more trendy!”

Prices

Try to make your prices detailed and at the same time “real”. Have you ever seen a “round” price in a tourist brochure?I haven’t!It’s always “From 399€” or “From 2449€”.Specify reductions and supplements (for instance, reductions for children under 14 or supplement for single room).

Prices

Why do we always have “odd” prices? Becauseconsumers tend to perceive “odd prices” as being significantly lower than they actually are, tending to round to the next lowest monetary unit.!!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing