Meet Pierfilippo

Meet Pierfilippo

Pierfilippo Spoto, Experiential Tour Guide/Local Insider, Owner of Val di Kam

A visionary in the Italian tourism industry, Pierfilippo Spoto understands that true travelers seek not only Sicily, but Sicilians. As a result, nearly 20 years ago, he founded Val di Kam, an experiential tour operator. A native of Sant’Angelo Muxaro, a village of 1200 residents in the Sicani mountain region north of Agrigento, after graduating from University of Messina with a degree in banking and insurance sciences, Pierfilippo moved to London to study English. During his three years in England, he realized that travel agency brochures, when offering tours of Sicily, promoted visits to monuments, temples, and historic sites, but nothing of the Sicily he knew and loved—a slow Sicily featuring a profound human heritage that stems from Sicilians themselves.

 

When he returned to home, he worked in finance, yet dreamed of working in tourism to share his Sicily—one where travelers are presented with encounters, experiences, and emotions that go beyond the ordinary. In 2002, along with some local partners, he founded Val di Kam, which today along with a team of local insiders, offers countless experiential excursions throughout the Sicanian mountain region.

 

Pierfilippo is a member of AIGAE (Italian Association of Environmental Excursion Guides), a leader in LAG Sicani, an association of business leaders who promote the Sicanian region, and a member of CNA, the National Confederation of Craftsmen and Small and Medium Enterprises. In addition to working with American and northern European tour operators, Pierfilippo continues to seek new niches for experiential tourism. Furthermore, he mentors emerging professionals regarding his vision for the industry and how they can recreate the success of Val di Kam in their corners of Italy.