Globus Takes A New World View

Italy was the focus of a recent evening hosted by the Globus family of brands in Vancouver, so an event location at the popular Giardino Restaurant was entirely appropriate.

Celebrated owner and chef Umberto Menghi was on hand to greet a small group of invited travel writers, together with Globus managing director for Canada Stephanie Bishop, and Globus executive director for Europe Marco Sorbara.

While Menghi took care of providing top-ranked Italian wines and appetizers, Bishop and Sorbara reviewed new directions and products for the Globus brands, including Globus (premium touring), Cosmos (more affordable touring) and Monograms (more independent touring).

They did so with the underlying declaration that the touring market is going through a total rethink and renewal now, and that some preconceptions of how their tours are conducted are outdated and far from reality.

Escorted tours of Italy were amongst the very first products sold by Globus when it was created 90 years ago, and the company now sells programs to every part of the world except Antarctica. So it is fitting that this new outlook for escorted touring should be first applied to Italy.

That is, while tours are still sold that cover major cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice, new programs have been developed that include smaller, much less known places such as scenic, historic towns and villages throughout the country, said Bishop.

This approach will be available for visitors to Great Britain in 2019, through its “Cobblestones Less Travelled” programs. Also, Globus is encouraging more off-season travel to its destinations, through “Escapes by Globus,” which operate in the November to March off-season.

“The prices are amazing, at about 40% less than the peak period,” said Bishop. As well, there are no single supplements charged. Most of the Escapes programs – some 95% – are based in Europe. The company plans to have 40 of these itineraries available by 2020.

“We did not anticipate how successful these programs would be,” she said.

Pictured, Umberto Menghi, owner and head chef at the popular Giardino Restaurant in downtown Vancouver, with Stephanie Bishop, Globus managing director for Canada, and Marco Sorbara, Globus executive director for Europe.