Rooted in trust, elevated in style
Rooted in trust, elevated in style
Our Mission
We design journeys shaped by relationships — opening Italy through the people who know it best.
Through years of trust with chefs, artisans, hoteliers, guides, and cultural guardians, we create access that can’t be booked off a list: kitchens, estates, studios, and conversations that change how a place feels.
For us, luxury means depth, balance, and a real sense of being welcome — where cultural connection, physical vitality, and genuine hospitality come together.
Our Story
The Genuine Experience began with a simple idea: that the best way to know a place is through the people who live it.
Over the years, our founders built close relationships with chefs, artisans, growers, hoteliers, and guides — not just as contacts, but as people they return to, learn from, and share life with.
From those connections came a different way of traveling: one built around access, warmth, and depth. The result is not a collection of impressive stops, but a more personal way into a place — one that feels familiar, generous, and quietly unforgettable.
Our Circle
The cooks, growers, guides, makers, and hosts who open their world to our travelers.
Our Beliefs
Good travel goes beyond logistics and great accommodations.
It begins with relationships built on the ground over time.
It matters more when it brings people closer to a place — and to the people who shape it.
The best moments are often simple: a shared table, a sunrise hike, a generous host, the right conversation.
Luxury, for us, means care, depth, and a real sense of welcome.
The People Behind the Journeys
Kathrin
Founder | Trainer in Mindful Living
Born into a medical family in Styria, Austria, Kathrin left home at sixteen, studied and worked in London and Boston before settling in Italy, in 2004.
She later enrolled at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, where she met Livio, founded Zest of Italy, and became mother to Lea and Lavinia.
After serious health challenges in 2018, she returned to Austria and began a new chapter focused on healing and transformation, studying neuromental training, epigenetics, hypnosis, and metabolic nutrition.
Today, she is a trainer and coach, helping people find balance and clarity by aligning body, mind, and soul — values that continue to shape every journey at The Genuine Experience.
Livio
Co-Founder | CEO
Livio is the founder of The Genuine Experience. Raised in Italy and shaped by years in finance between London, Zurich, and Tokyo, he eventually returned to what had always mattered most: food, culture, movement, and human connection.
He built TGE through long-standing relationships, strong local knowledge, and a clear sense of what makes travel feel worth doing well. His world moves easily between chefs and mountain trails, open-water swims and family-run tables, Slow Food values and active communities.
What he brings to a journey is not just access, but judgment — for the right people, the right rhythm, and experiences that feel both rare and natural.
Apolline
Partner | Senior Product Manager
Apolline brings over two decades of international experience in luxury hospitality and destination management across the Mediterranean basin. She specializes in creating tailor-made travel experiences for discerning global clientele.
As Partner and Senior Product Manager, Apolline co-leads strategic destination expansion, luxury buyer contracting, and portfolio expansion across Europe’s coastal and island territories.
Dividing her time between Palma de Mallorca and Italy, Apolline leads partner relations and shapes exclusive travel programs for our travelers. Multilingual and naturally active, when she isn’t curating journeys she can be found playing tennis, padel, or enjoying sports out on the water.
Fulvio
Travel Design
Fulvio has spent years moving between food, wine, storytelling, and the people who make a place worth knowing.
He is drawn to regional culture in its most lived form — small producers, good bottles, and the kind of details that rarely make it into standard itineraries.
His background spans hospitality, writing, and travel design, with a particular instinct for finding the places and flavors that feel local and memorable.
He brings a strong editorial eye to travel design, but also a real instinct for warmth and those connections people keep talking about.
Davide
Travel Design
After studying across Bologna, Birmingham, Strasbourg, and Paris, Davide earned a PhD in European History at the City University of New York.
His academic path and interest in sustainability eventually brought him back to Puglia, where he founded a regenerative farm rooted in respect for the land.
At The Genuine Experience, Davide designs journeys where history, landscape, and human connection come together — with curiosity, depth, and a grounded sense of care.
What an amazing, beautifully curated trip!! Gorgeous places, generous and gracious people, and gastronomical genius! Cannot wait to explore more!
Authentic is the correct one word description. The tour guides were fantastic, and really portrayed to the local society tremendously. Thank You for a Great trip !!!
The total program was perfect including itinerary, guides, lodging, transportation,and food choices. Your recommendations and guidance was spot on!
Alice made our trip unforgettable. She truly listened to what we wanted, adjusted plans with care, and made everything seamless. Her timing was perfect — always checking in just when needed. The guides felt like old friends, and every hotel, restaurant, and activity was spot on. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience!
