The When In Rome Tours story - Part I
When In Rome Tours was a fly-by-night gathering operation that recruited gangs of African and Cuban enforcers to "own" street corners around St. Peter's Square. Not very respectful. Thousands of lost tourists were corralled then led to a dingy "office" on Via Santamaura then Via Sebastiano Veniero 19 / 21 to pay for a Vatican tour (cash only...).
This unpleasant period of modern Vatican history is known as "St. Peter and the Missing Millions". When In Rome Tours' paper trail is still out there, the busy back room "shredder" didn't destroy all the evidence. Vatican tours "business" was a merry-go-round of money laundering between 2009 - 2019, led by the artful owners of When In Rome Tours.
In 2010, we were brought in to legitimize and digitize When In Rome Tours. That process took an inordinate length of time as cash was king in so far as the "family business" was concerned. In 2020, the pandemic hit tourism hard.
The effect of COVID-19 was very simple; sell up and start again, peddle a few white label tours, or adios muchachos. Cue Wandrian, a US / Canadian corporate that stepped in to resuscitate the dying When In Rome Tours brand, then forced it to trade under one of their brand names. Cue "Italia Tours". Genius.
This rather sad and unedifying saga being poles apart from the honest grass roots of local tourism, relations were swiftly severed to reinforce our own strengths as an independent tour operator in Rome.
This unpleasant period of modern Vatican history is known as "St. Peter and the Missing Millions". When In Rome Tours' paper trail is still out there, the busy back room "shredder" didn't destroy all the evidence. Vatican tours "business" was a merry-go-round of money laundering between 2009 - 2019, led by the artful owners of When In Rome Tours.
In 2010, we were brought in to legitimize and digitize When In Rome Tours. That process took an inordinate length of time as cash was king in so far as the "family business" was concerned. In 2020, the pandemic hit tourism hard.
The effect of COVID-19 was very simple; sell up and start again, peddle a few white label tours, or adios muchachos. Cue Wandrian, a US / Canadian corporate that stepped in to resuscitate the dying When In Rome Tours brand, then forced it to trade under one of their brand names. Cue "Italia Tours". Genius.
This rather sad and unedifying saga being poles apart from the honest grass roots of local tourism, relations were swiftly severed to reinforce our own strengths as an independent tour operator in Rome.
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