Alitours celebrates 20th anniversary, shares secrets to success

Considering the stiff competition and big players in the Canadian marketplace, it isn’t every day that an independent tour operator celebrates its 20th anniversary, but then again, Alitours International Inc. is not your everyday travel company.

In light of the milestone anniversary, PAXnews.com sat down with Tania Veca, sales manager for Alitours and daughter of Tony Veca, the company’s owner and president, to chat about the finer points of the tour operator’s success and how the Veca family sees the next two decades unfolding.

An Italian-Canadian wholesale tour operator that specializes in vacation planning services to Italy, Portugal, and select islands in the Caribbean, Alitours has a clear mission statement outlined on their website: “To provide high-quality vacations at the lowest price possible, while giving each and every guest personalized attention.” It’s a task they take quite seriously, and one which firmly dictates the way they do business.

When 20-year-old Tony Veca arrived in Canada in the 1960s, owning a travel agency wasn’t what he originally had in mind. After spending many years in accounting, insurance, and even becoming a notary public, the opportunity arose to purchase a travel agency, and Tony took it. He was only slightly concerned that he didn’t know anything about travel because he did know a lot about one thing - Italy.

First launched in January 1995, Alitours originally offered specialized trips to Italy, specifically to Tony's homeland of Sicily, in addition to Malta. It did well in its first year, and grew from there, a tightly-knit team of eight people worked to provide clients with the one thing they felt set them apart from the rest: the benefit of personal experience. Offering only products that Alitours staff themselves had experienced firsthand, the company ensured that from the start, they were offering quality product that would leave their clients satisfied.

Tania says it’s this kind of specialization that still gives them an upper hand in the travel world today. “If we don’t know a product, we don’t sell it,” she says, explaining that in addition to visiting each of their destinations themselves, they also have close relationships with their tour partners overseas and make a point of speaking to them nearly every day.

It’s one of the reasons why Alitours’ repertoire has remained relatively small throughout the years, staying limited to Italy, Azores Islands, the Portugal mainland, Madeira, and Trinidad and Tobago, among some other destinations. “We don’t dabble. We like to provide a lot of knowledge on a few destinations,” Tania explains, emphasizing that keeping options to a minimum allows them to devote exceptional attention to each and stay on top of recent developments, ultimately helping every product reach its maximum potential.

Much of that potential lies in their ability to customize anything and everything for their clients. According to Tania, Alitours is dedicated to helping guests live like locals and provides them with tailor-made information ranging from designing menus to include the best local fare in Madeira, to offering insights on accessibility needs in Venice.

A large part of that personalization means being able to provide advice on the right way to travel means knowing what the client needs, even if they aren’t so sure themselves. When it comes to managing expectations, Tania says she isn’t afraid to say no to customers looking to pack too much travel into too short a time span; her priorities lie in creating enjoyable trips for her clients.

“Travel is an investment,” she says. “Coming back with happy memories is the best souvenir you can ask for.”

Alitours continues to evolve with the needs of its clients, offering family-focused products that include child and adult-friendly hotels, restaurants, and attractions such as Gladiator-for-a-day tours. They also specialize in weddings, honeymoons and other romantic getaways, with an emphasis on beautiful views, private dinners and hidden gems. For the client who wants to see everything during their stay, long-term trips are available for booking, such as a three-week stay in Tuscany.

As part of their 20th anniversary, Alitours has launched a promotion that includes instant commissions of up to 21 per cent as a way of thanking agent partners for all their support. This comes with the recent release of their 2015 brochures, all of which are available to order online. Other celebratory promotions include a new line of products for Italy, offering three- to seven-day packages that come with activities such as cooking classes, wine tasting, fishing, and Vespa tours, all geared to client preferences.

So how does the Alitours team plan on celebrating their 20th year in business? “There’s been some talk about taking a group trip,” Tania says with a smile, “but then we aren’t sure; that would mean closing our doors for a few days.”