As Italy specialist Perillo Tours looks to grow its business, it is looking to destinations beyond Italy. Tasked with ushering in that expansion is Keith Baron, former president of Abercrombie & Kent USA and now Perillo Tours' COO. In a conversation with senior editor Nicole Edenedo at the recent USTOA Conference & Marketplace in Los Angeles, Baron and Steve Perillo, the company's third-generation owner, explained why a fresh pair of eyes and a new set of skills are needed to bring Perillo Tours into other destinations while still maintaining its Italian roots.
Q: How did this partnership come about?
Perillo: I feel like I'm going through a transition. I'm getting older. I have my nephew [Devin Buonanno, currently Hawaii regional director] who's been with us for five years; he's only 28. And so I really wanted to solidify things, in case something happened to me -- and solidify things with a real professional, one who ran these giant, prestigious companies. I never expected to get someone, but at USTOA last year, Terry [Dale, CEO of the USTOA] introduced us and we started talking -- Keith was the first person I talked to for this position. It's the luckiest thing that's happened to me since the "Saturday Night Live" segment! [The show spoofed Perillo's ubiquitous TV ads in a 2019 sketch that starred Adam Sandler.]
Baron: I had an interest in returning to the East Coast. My wife and I had a 10-year plan to be in the Midwest [A&K headquarters is in Downers Grove, Ill]; 12 years later we said, "OK, let's move back to the East Coast." I hadn't begun a search, and that's where serendipity came in, when Steve approached me. I'm excited to be here because of Perillo's reputation and expertise in Italy and its developing expertise in Greece and Spain.
Keith Baron
Q: What are you here to do at Perillo?
Baron: To grow not only Greece and Spain but to build out other regions in Europe; that is the intent. The expansion of Perillo Tours through Europe is one of our pillars of growth. But we'll do that very methodically. We won't open a destination until we really have everything settled on the ground. I see an opportunity in Europe that begins with Italy. We're very well known for group travel in Italy; what we're less known for is our FIT travel. There is opportunity for more growth in Italy by taking advantage of our FIT product line there. The great benefit of FIT is that you can customize just about anything, especially for younger people, who are more time-constrained than retirees. These folks can benefit greatly from FIT because they can do more of what they want to do.
Q: How do you plan to tackle these expansion plans?
Baron: By expanding the demographic profile of our target customer and leveraging travel advisors in a much broader way than before. We really need to get the word out about FIT in a broader way through the trade. For example, there are a lot of Italian Americans who are interested in heritage travel and want to visit the towns and villages where their ancestors are from, which might not fit into a group tour program. But we can arrange those things by request. We're going to focus a lot on our group programs by enhancing our marketing and sales approach. We're coming out with a new set of faith-based programs, specifically for group travel, in Italy in Q1. It's almost a natural progression, particularly with the expertise in Italy.
Steve Perillo
Q: Steve, a year ago you seemed cautious, protective almost, about the idea of Perillo Tours expanding beyond its current destinations. What's changed?
Perillo: Keith introduced this new idea to me: We can do both. We can never lose our pre-eminence in Italy. But we need places for our alumni; they can't keep going to Italy endlessly. So I opened things up, and Keith knows how to do product and "continuous innovation." That's what he calls it.