The article below was written about Tour Italy Now from a happy Tour Italy Now traveler named James Aitken from Boston, Massachusetts, whose Classic Italy vacation experience greatly exceeded his expectations. We thank him for his kind words, and continue our commitment to provide strong personalized customer service. The Shocking Simplicity of Purchasing Online Travel The Future of Tourism Has Arrived By James Aitken, Boston, MA What ever happened to the “travel-agent”? They seem to be plenty scarce these days. I think we all remember who they are – or were. Before leaving the country you consulted one. After recently experiencing the shocking simplicity of purchasing online travel for myself, it dawned on me: the future of tourism has arrived. And the travel agent is dying if not dead. For my long anticipated summer Italy trip this year, I spent hours sifting through an array of Italy Tours, Italy Vacations, and Italy Trip Itineraries, offered by the best online travel companies around. I was impressed by the wide selection. One online travel agency specializing in Italy travel stood apart with the most interesting Italy vacations – and these Italy trip specialists also sported the coolest and most informative map of Italy. Tour Italy Now, an industry leader in online travel and Italy travel, has an impressive variety of Italy tours to choose from (TourItalyNow.com). Hmmm, I thought; maybe my Italy trip this year can be more of a relaxing Italy vacation if I left some of the worry of planning the itinerary and finding hotels and restaurants to someone else. Searching through their Italy tours and map of Italy, I managed to find the perfect Italy tour that would capture the essence of the Italy vacation I had in mind – my second Italy vacation in as many years. Like tried and true Italy vacation experts, they quickly sent me a beautiful Italy vacation brochure (now online) describing their Italy tours and Italy travel itineraries. I had never before experienced online travel, but enjoying their map of Italy as I was and reading through their Italy tours made me impressed by this Italy travel company and by the whole online travel purchase process in general. Then it suddenly hit me: We truly have entered the dawn of a new era. Self-purchased Italy tours have revolutionized Italy travel, especially when considering how unheard of purchasing online travel was not long ago. What’s more, this online travel system works; and it’s much better than the old system. You don’t even need to leave the house, just click on a map of Italy and dream away. Booking my Italy trip was 1-2-3 using Tour Italy Now’s map of Italy and step-by-step online travel purchase system. From their illustrated selection of Italy packages and Italy vacations I chose the classic Italy tour – Rome, Venice, and Florence, as seen on their beautiful map of Italy. I am more than thrilled with my online travel selection. This summer’s Italy travel experience was as memorable for my wife as it was for me – with all the romance, sense of adventure and thrill of discovery that one expects from their dream Italy vacation. The ancient splendor of Rome, artistic beauty of Florence, and an intimate gondola ride through Venice gives some idea of our escapades across the adventurous map of Italy. Partaking in more of our share of Italy’s heavenly food and divine wine, it was in every way the most exhilarating Italy trip of a lifetime. Our polite and knowledgeable Italy tour guide’s extensive experience with Italy tours and Italy vacations showed, as did his involvement in online travel and Italy travel for the past two decades. One afternoon he surprised us with a twelve course meal of house wine, fried calamari, pasta con pomodoro fresco, sautéed ceci with onions and spices and fresh bread in the cool of a seaside villa’s garden. As we dined on this last day of our Italy vacation, we reminisced about the treasures we uncovered during our fascinating Italy tour. Afternoon turned to evening and while sipping espressos we were suddenly serenaded by a wonderful performance of live singers and guitarists, men and women, who sang Neapolitan songs as we danced. All of us agreed, before turning in for the night, that this was the perfect grand finale to the best Italy vacation we ever imagined. So, this is the future of online travel. Not bad. Take it from an experienced Italy vacation fanatic: We have come a long way. I have learned that any kind of Italy travel without knowing the destination beforehand is not a good idea. You miss much that a planned Italy vacation or renowned Italy tour like Tour Italy Now has to offer. I have also learned that it is sometimes best to be a man of the times. Having taken this Italy tour from Tour Italy Now, I realize how much things have changed, and for the better. We have truly entered a new era. I would have never expected this much from an online travel provider with fancy photos and a state-of-the-art map of Italy. Having taken the tour, however, I have experienced it for myself; an amazing amount of thoughtfulness and consideration have been poured into their Italy packages and actual Italy vacation services. I give the entire online travel purchase process five stars. Hooray for progress and change, though in a way it’s sad. I never said goodbye to my travel agent.