Are you eager to discover Lake Maggiore from a unique and environmentally-conscious perspective? Il Viaggiatore in Cannobio designs sustainable tours on Lake Maggiore to give you an unprecedented glimpse into the hidden treasures of this breathtaking land.
We have met the founder, Simona, who has been passionately leading Il Viaggiatore Lake & Mountain Tours since 2015. From this interview you’ll be amazed at the power of travelling and sharing, as a force for good and constant inspiration.
Il Viaggiatore, in Italian, means “The Traveler”: definitely a name you can trust, conscious and curious travelers are indeed at the heart of every experience.
Hi Simona, thank you for being with us!
Why did you decide to found Il Viaggiatore, and which values you’d like to share through your activities?
Il Viaggiatore was born out of my love towards my place, the place I call home, on Lake Maggiore, combined with my great passion: travelling. I’m a curious traveler and I felt the urge to share the knowledge and the beauty of my roots.
I have always worked in the tourism field, and I have felt so proud of giving birth to Il Viaggiatore, which designs tours on Lake Maggiore: for the first time in my life I could address foreign travelers, enhance our destination and promote it through a sustainable, conscious and slow tourism. Consciousness and enrichment have paved the way to our main value and ambitious goal: travelling as a way to preserve our cultural and natural landscape on the long term, thereby supporting the local economy and community for future generations to come.
So, in a nutshell, could you describe your business using 3 adjectives?
I would say: conscious, respectful and curious. Why, you’d ask me?
- Il Viaggiatore aims at raising awareness on sustainable issues while traveling, minimizing the tourism impact on a destination.
- Il Viaggiatore’s main objective is promoting slow tourism and thus placing value on the territory in a respectful and responsible way.
- Il Viaggiatore is committed to going beyond the cursory glance of hurriedly tourists to discover the real hidden curiosities of one place.
For example, some foretastes: Do you know the story of the Lion statue before entering the village of Cannobio? You’ll learn a lot of those curiosities and local stories if you take part in our walking tour in Cannobio!
Through our tours on Lake Maggiore, we just love to celebrate the natural and cultural wonder of our place and the people who have been contributing to it across the centuries!
Il Viaggiatore is specialized in one-day trips and tours on Lake Maggiore, especially hiking tours in the surrounding mountains. Which is the added value related to your offer?
Il Viaggiatore is actively involved in the promotion of VCO (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola), which is made by three main macro-areas, each of them different but complementary at the same time: the mountains of Ossola, the water of Verbano and the craftsmanship of Cusio, three main features which have shaped these places. Our travel offer bundles this whole destination, making sure that is presented in its uniqueness, and relying on a broad partner network lies at the heart of everything we do.
Moreover, our activities are carried out by expert professionals, i.e. certified hiking tour guides. The local guide will focus the travelers’ attention on hidden gems and curiosities. They’re our knowledge, our tales and our territory. This is definitely our added value: a local person who leads you hand in hand through the territory, letting you plunge in the history, legends, past stories, or pointing out at a rare plant or a cultural sign you didn’t notice. A hiking in Val Grande without escorting doesn’t give the same emotions.
Speaking of our bestseller walking tour which takes place every Tuesday in Cannobio, we have received lots of positive feedbacks by aficionados. They pointed out that during the tour they learned different stories they didn’t know, although they have been coming to Lake Maggiore every summer for 20 years. We can really show our land beyond every surface impression!
So, travelers can also discover places they already know, with new eyes and curiosity, in complete safety and relax because we are planning everything from the guides, to the transfers and packed lunch. Travelers will only need to fill their eyes with beauty and relish!
During this year, how have you reacted and adapted to unprecedented times?
This year we haven’t stood still: it was a great opportunity to bring forward our travel philosophy, plan our conscious rebirth and dedicate our valuable time to training related to experiential tourism. This forced break led us to create new itineraries and tours on Lake Maggiore because as I told you before, this territory is a huge hothouse for new ideas and potential from the natural and cultural point of view.
People will be eager to travel with us, discover with a renewed consciousness the beauty that surrounds us and breathe fresh air, exchanging ideas and sharing unforgettable moments.
So, how do you see Il Viaggiatore in 5 years? According to you, what are the main challenges you will face in the future?
We are looking ahead with confidence: nature will prevail and mankind will need to be more respectful and travel with a purpose. So I’m optimistic that the tourism will evolve for the better and that active and outdoor experiences will become an opportunity to grow, to enrich oneself, to share ideas, to unite families and to create unique stories to be remembered and told. New travelers types are popping up and one of our main objectives is to share nature with new generations!
Looking at the short term, we are so excited to share with you some big news: in the near future, we will invest in an electric and hybrid van for our tours on Lake Maggiore. For us, it’s a concrete act for our commitment towards nature and environmental protection.
We are also working on new sustainable partnerships because speaking up with a single voice makes us stronger. To show you all of this, our agency window and showcase will be greener than ever thanks to the water bottles from Neh Italia, the cotton t-shirts from Lake Wake and an amazing Lake Maggiore Mandala from Alberti bookshop. We are waiting for you to see it!
Today, more than ever, our responsibility is going to be enriched with a new symbolic value because every action we undertake tells something about us. Il Viaggiatore wants to inspire travelers and live with them authentic experiences. Only by living an experience in close contact to nature and local traditions, we can relish the inborn freedom of travelling again.