With Australians gradually beginning to somewhat return to their favourite pastimes, including dining at restaurants with friends and family, camping and playing golf, many would already be craving a getaway in idyllic European summer.
However, international travel is still likely to be off the table for quite some time for Australians with the overseas travel ban in place.
With the UK, Spain and Italy being among the worst-hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic, there's an unmistakable red flag fluttering for those wanting to travel there. However, two Italian tour operators may have found the solution.
Alessandro Candini and Omar Pancani are keeping the La Dolce Vita dream alive with their project , which literally means ‘Italy from the couch'.
"During the lockdown, I created a story based on a trip I made one year ago to Alicudi, one of the Aeolian Islands in Sicily, a place I love,” Mr Candini told SBS Italian.
“I created a day trip, from dawn to dusk on Instagram, seated on the couch, in my house where I was stuck in isolation like the rest of the world. My followers loved it and started asking for more trips."
is a virtual platform featuring stories set in renowned travel destinations and other less familiar itineraries.
"We symbolically divided the quarantine into 40 trips - from the Dolomites of Alta Badia, in the north of the country, across a series of picturesque medieval villages in the countryside of central Italy, to the wild coasts of Pantelleria, in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea,” he explains.
The term ‘quarantine’ comes from the Italian word ‘quarantena’, meaning the forty days period that ships were required to isolate before passengers could disembark during the mid-14th century plage.
To build the virtual itineraries, the creators invited influencers, journalists and bloggers from different regions of Italy to join the project.
“During the lockdown, I discovered #Italiadaldivano on Instagram and I immediately got on board,” he told SBS Italian from Palermo.
“We were living in uncertainty and apprehension about what was going on in Italy and the rest of the world. The idea of making people dream through the beauty of Italy seemed to me the perfect antidote to those difficult days.”
Mr Spatafora works for major Italian magazines, including Slow Food. He created two itineraries for #Italiadaldivano in the glamorous Pantelleria and the wild Ustica islands, focussing on the people and food.
“One of the pull factors that attract people in Italy is food and wine. Italian cuisine is not only delicious to eat, but also beautiful to look at. And it's not just about nourishment. Every recipe, in fact, contains the history and traditions of a place. That's why the whole world envies our cuisine," he says.
"Through social images and virtual stories, it is possible to inspire new journeys."
Since the beginning of the lockdown, the project has attracted thousands of people around the world.
“We received thousands of messages from people who were isolating in their houses, thanks to these virtual trips, they could escape and remember that Italy is a wonderful country,” says Mr Candini.
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