38 The Essentials: Lecce, Salento, Matera & Bari, Italy (Part 2)
Lecce, Salento, Matera, and Bari represent the less-traveled side of Puglia, and for travel advisors, they hold some of the region's most compelling itinerary-building material. From the baroque hilltop streets of Lecce and the wild coastal towns of Salento, to the UNESCO cave city of Matera and the newly internationally connected hub of Bari, this part of the region rewards clients who want to go deeper. Elisa De Pascalis, Sales Manager at Southern Visions, a destination management company specializing in southern Italy, returns for Part 2 of an in-depth Puglia conversation. She shares how to position each area to clients, what factors shape the decision to stay overnight versus visit as a day trip, where logistical details like airports and ferries open up creative multi-destination itineraries, and what hidden gems across the region most advisors haven't yet heard of.
Travel advisors will come away with a stronger sense of how to structure a longer Puglia itinerary, how to guide client conversations around mobility, heat, and pacing, and how to make a compelling case for clients to slow down and stay longer.
Key Takeaways
How to decide between Lecce as an overnight versus a day trip, and what two to three nights there actually looks like
Which client factors to clarify before adding Matera: mobility, summer heat, and whether the cave hotel experience is the right fit
How to sequence Central Puglia, Lecce, Matera, and Bari across a longer trip depending on arrival city and travel pace
How to use the new United direct from Newark to Bari, and when it makes sense to extend into Greece or Croatia via Bari's connections
Which hidden gems across Salento, Matera, and northern Puglia to layer in for second-timers or clients who want to go deeper
About the guest:
Elisa De Pascalis is the Sales Manager at Southern Visions, a DMC specializing in southern Italy with deep expertise across Puglia. She began her career in the industry in 2018 as a Travel Designer, joined Southern Visions in 2022, and has grown into a Sales role driven by a genuine passion for her home region and the work of connecting people to it. Southern Visions was founded in 2007 as a cycling operator and has grown into a full-service DMC with two distinct experiential divisions: a dedicated biking department and 500 Journeys, a vintage Fiat 500 touring program with self-drive and chauffeured countryside routes.
