Discovering Your Italian Roots: Experience BellaVita Featured by the BBC for Heritage Tourism in Abruzzo
I’m thrilled to share that Experience BellaVita has been featured in the BBC article “Five Countries Helping You Reconnect with Your Roots.”
This recognition is a testament to our great dedication to helping people reconnect with their Italian roots. Since 2018, as an independent, Abruzzo-based tour operator we’ve had the privilege of assisting over 50 families in their journey to uncover their heritage. It’s an honor to see our work featured alongside prestigious organizations like Italy’s Ministry of Tourism, and it reflects the growing importance of heritage tourism.
Heritage tourism has been growing in popularity as travelers seek deeper, more meaningful connections to their ancestral past. Italy, with its extensive historical archives and picturesque regions, is at the heart of this trend. Since founding Experience BellaVita in 2018, I’ve dedicated myself to creating tailor-made genealogy and heritage tours, helping people reconnect with their Italian roots. For me, this work is much more than a business—it’s a calling.
As I shared in the BBC feature:
“Heritage travel has been the foundation of my business, making up more than 95% of our focus. This work has become more than a business—it’s a profoundly rewarding calling that allows me to help clients from around the world reconnect with their Italian roots.”
Italy offers unparalleled resources for uncovering family history, including civil and parish records that date back as far as the 1400s. These archives often lead to incredible discoveries, whether it’s locating an ancestral hometown or even finding living relatives.
Anna Maria’s Heartfelt Journey Back to Her Roots
One of the most moving stories I’ve been a part of was helping Anna Maria reconnect with her family in Italy after nearly 70 years of searching. Anna Maria was only two years old when her mother passed away, and she was adopted by an Italian-American family. For decades, Anna Maria searched for any trace of her biological family, but despite her efforts and even working with other genealogists, she never found success.
That was until she reached out to us. After months of research, I was able to connect with Anna Maria’s relatives in Italy—family members who had been searching for her as well. They had even appeared on a popular Italian TV show, hoping to reunite with her. When we finally arranged the reunion, it was an emotional and life-changing moment. For the first time in her life, Anna Maria saw a picture of her mother. She was overwhelmed with emotion, as it was the first glimpse of the woman who had passed away when she was just a baby.
This heartfelt reunion, set in Southern Italy, was made even more special when Anna Maria met her relatives for the first time. It was a moment of pure joy, showing how powerful the search for one’s roots can be. For Anna Maria, the journey back to her origins not only brought her closer to her mother’s memory but also introduced her to a whole new family she never knew existed.
Why Genealogy Research in Italy is Worth the Effort
As I always tell my clients, “The past of every one of us is fascinating if we attempt to discover its secrets.” Genealogy research in Italy can often be complex and time-consuming, but the reward is well worth the effort. At Experience BellaVita, we specialize in heritage tours of Italy that focus on uncovering the unique stories of your ancestors, no matter where in Italy they may have come from.
Whether your family hails from Abruzzo, Sicily, Puglia, Campania, Lazio, Molise, Le Marche, Liguria, Basilicata, or Sardinia, we’ve had the privilege of helping clients uncover their family’s history in these diverse regions. Our small group ancestry tours are designed to offer a personalized and deeply meaningful journey, ensuring you experience not just the locations, but also the cultural and emotional significance behind them.
In addition to the rich genealogical records in towns and villages, these tours allow you to visit the very places where your ancestors lived, creating an intimate connection with the land and people of your heritage.
The Growing Popularity of Heritage Tourism
As the popularity of genealogy holiday packages and Italian ancestry research continues to grow, it’s clear that more people are seeking to reconnect with their roots. Our work in this field has helped establish Experience BellaVita as a leader in guided heritage tours of Italy, especially for those with ancestral ties to the regions of Southern Italy.
Whether you’re tracing your Abruzzese ethnicity or exploring other parts of Southern Italy, we work closely with you to create personalized heritage tours that are not just about discovering family histories—they’re about experiencing them. The emotional and cultural impact of these tours is something that resonates deeply with our clients, and it’s a privilege to be part of their journey.
Begin Your Journey Today
Being featured by the BBC is a testament to the growing interest in genealogy holiday packages and Italian ancestry research. Since 2018, we’ve helped over 40 families reconnect with their Italian roots. These research projects take time and dedication, and we only take on a limited number of research projects per year to ensure that each family receives the attention they deserve.
If you’re ready to uncover the secrets of your Italian heritage, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with Italian genealogy services and create a tailored genealogy holiday package that brings you closer to your roots. From small group ancestry tours to focused Italian ancestry research, your journey to reconnect with your past starts here. Allow us to assist you in expanding the branches of your family tree with our tailored Genealogy and Ancestry research services.