There was a collective sigh of relief at Tourism Media HQ yesterday when we pressed the “publish” button on our latest Youtube Travel Vacation Guide.

The Venice Travel Vacation Guide has been in production for almost 6 months and our team worked tirelessly to make sure we captured the essence of this city that has no equal.

Although it has a long and glorious history, in recent years Venice has been increasingly seen as a ‘cruise destination’, with around 20,000 people arriving on cruise ships each day in peak season.

The majority of these day trippers rush through the main sights, and add very little to the local economy, and often leave with a very limited appreciation of this incredible city. Venetian authorities are keen to reverse this trend, by encouraging visitors to slow down, stay longer and take the time to better understand that Venice offers so much more than just St Mark’s and gondolas.

 Tourism Media’s Directors, Matt Cassidy and Nick Joy, sent our most experienced photographer with a brief to really capture the city’s essence. The footage he sent in was nothing short of spectacular.

Senior Script Writer, John Danalis spent days researching Venice’s past and present before tackling the script. “Venice was never on my travel bucket list,” he admitted, “I guess I’d bought into all the negative press about the crowds”. However, after immersing himself in centuries of Italian history and hours of footage, Venice captured his heart too.

Getting the right voice-over proved to be a challenge for film editor Matt Sawyer, who tried six different artists before he made his final choice. “A strong Italian accent reading in English can be difficult to understand,” he said “so we were delighted when we finally found Giovanni and his smoky voice suits the script perfectly.”

As the script advises, “If you take your time, and treat her gently, Venice will reward you with moments with profound beauty and bliss.” It turned out that this advice proved equally true for this production. Enjoy.