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EMMA VILLAS - VILLE E DIMORE DI PREGIO IN AFFITTO IN ITALIA
Our reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic
Letter from Giammarco Bisogno Founder and CEO of Emma Villas
Chiusi , April 2021
Dear Friends , The response that the Emma Villas community has given and is giving to the Covid-19 pandemic has made me proud of what we have built together . It is pointless to tell you how much this experience , still not behind us , has marked each one of us and that we shall not forget a single day of these long months of anguish and concern but our community , that of the owners - who are our strength - that of our clients and my staff - who converse with them every day - has shown a sense of belonging and great strength . With all of them we shared that which immediately seemed the only path to travel together in order to start again : putting the health and safety of our community , clients and owners , at the centre of our choice by working for the present , but wanting to guarantee the future . This has been , and is , our policy for the management of the Covid 19 emergency . We had about 1500 canceled weeks in 2020 , about 100 per day in the darkest periods of last year and , as of this writing , we have already missed the early part of this 2021 season . We have spoken with each client , with the staff forced into remote working from one day to the next , always looking for solutions so as not to betray that pact of trust in which I have believed since I founded my company . We have tried to go beyond booking a villa and have bet on the fact that we will take off again stronger than before , together . We have had the support of thousands of clients who , by accepting our voucher proposals for 2021 and 2022 , have confirmed that they cannot renounce Italy , their dream holiday in our country , confirming not only a week ' s booking in Amalfi or in Val d ' Orcia but also their love for our country . We have dissatisfied some - few in reality - but with many we have built a concrete path to a return to hosting our clients . The same happened with the owners of our villas with whom we lost , due to the objective impossibility of opening the villas , the initial part of the 2020 season , something which is also happening for 2021 , but with whom we have created the conditions to open the structures in safety , with an uneven and constantly evolving regulatory framework . In 2020 we convinced the owners who were fearful of opening the structures that we could do it and that we would focus on Italian clients , the most reluctant to take holidays in the countryside and in villas . We have helped them to unravel , through our Safe Reception Project , the problems related to the sanification of the structures by supporting them in the choice of the appointed companies , in the adoption of safety protocols , facilitating their understanding and adoption and , at the same time , financially encouraging the choice of solutions that guaranteed the greatest possible protection of the health of the guests and of the staff who manage the properties . We supported the training of the staff dedicated to the reception , maintenance and cleaning of the villas by creating ad hoc information material and by making ourselves available with an active desk during the stays of the 2020 season on issues related to Covid-19 so as to facilitate access to information and the management of any problems related to the application of guidelines and protocols . We have always been there and we are there in this 2021 as well , thanks to a very difficult but formative experience . We asked for the trust of our owners and clients , some of them supported us very movingly , understanding the enormous effort , even financially , which we spent such as that of making a TV commercial in full lockdown , with the uncertainty about the concrete possibility of starting the season . In the commercial , which we are planning again in 2021 , we asked Italians to choose Italy and our villas for their holidays . Thousands of people responded in 2020 and we await them again this year .
Heartfelt thanks to the clients and owners who have trusted us and to my staff . Thanks to all of them , it is still possible to react and get back on the road . In the end , I didn ' t talk to you about policies … but I did talk to you about people ; people always make the difference . We look forward with confidence and pride , to start again without forgetting .
Giammarco Bisogno
Fondatore e CEO di Emma Villas