On set in Rome, with Steve Perillo (Mr. Italy Jr.) to talk about how one family’s vision shaped Italian travel in America, life growing up, and plans for the future.
BY GIOVANNA G. BONOMO
October, 2024
FROM NAPOLI TO NEW YORK
The story of Perillo Tours is one of vision, heritage, and a love for Italy that has spanned three (going on 4) generations. It begins with Joseph Perillo, a young Italian attorney who emigrated to America from the Neapolitan city of San Giuseppe Vesuviano in 1925, soon after Mussolini took power. Like many immigrants, Joseph was determined to make a better life for himself and his family in America.
In 1945, Joseph founded Perillo Tours in a small storefront in the Bronx’s Little Italy neighborhood. His goal was to meet the growing demand for travel services among the large Italian immigrant population in New York. The company quickly became a hub for Italian Americans seeking travel advice and community services.
Joseph’s son, Mario Perillo, joined the company six months after it opened. Mario was a charismatic entrepreneur with a passion for travel. He saw deeper into the future of travel, recognizing an opportunity that others had missed. By offering all-inclusive tours to Italy, he wasn’t just creating a new product – he was revolutionizing the way people experienced international travel. This innovative approach would soon turn the tourism industry on its head.
Mario’s first tour was a resounding success, and he soon became known for his escorted, all-inclusive tours that offered travelers peace of mind and no surprises. Mario Perillo gained household fame through his 1980s and 1990s TV commercials, which led to his moniker “Mr. Italy”. Perillo Tours rapidly grew into New York City’s premier Italian-focused travel agency, largely due to Mario’s marketing prowess. His unique approach to advertising, particularly the popular “Mr. Italy” commercials, revolutionized travel industry promotion.
If anyone could make tourism come alive on the small screen, it was Mario. His charismatic presence and genuine enthusiasm for Italy shone through in every advertisement, making viewers feel as if they were already strolling through the streets of Rome or Florence. Perillo Tours, a legacy in the travel industry, continues to thrive under the leadership of Steve Perillo (a.k.a. “Mr. Italy Jr.), son of the company’s founder, Mario Perillo. Carrying forward his father’s vision, Steve has expanded the family business, offering an array of meticulously curated escorted tours, flexible independent travel options, and bespoke group vacations to destinations across the globe.
MEET STEVE PERILLO
(President of Perillo Tours and owner of Steve.com...really!)
“I thought Vodka was made from potatoes,” Mr. Italy Jr. ponders as Stefano mics him up. We’re in Rome, filming his interview for the feature documentary (of which Steve is a producer). The conversation goes from vodka to the rat race, and now we’re talking about a legacy that spans three going on four generations, two continents, and countless journeys: the Perillo Tours heritage. As the president and owner of Perillo Tours, Steve carries the torch of this legacy.“You know,” he begins, his voice warm with nostalgia, “Our story really starts back in 1925, when my grandfather Joseph arrived in New York from Naples. Can you imagine the contrast? Leaving Napoli for New York City?”
A storyteller by nature with a deadpan tone uniquely his, Steve paints a vivid picture of Joseph’s arrival - a young man full of dreams, stepping off the boat into a world of towering buildings and unfamiliar faces. “It must have been overwhelming,” Steve muses. “But that’s where our company’s strength comes from. We understand what it’s like to be caught between two worlds, to appreciate both the old and the new.” Joseph’s journey wasn’t just about personal ambition.
As Steve recounts, “He sent for his wife and children and started a new life in New York. And twenty years later, on May 1, 1945 - the day after World War II ended - he started Perillo Tours. It’s like our family’s story is intertwined with these pivotal moments in history.”
Growing up in Pearl River, New York, Steve was immersed in the family business from an early age. “I went to Boston University, studying music, piano, and composition,” he shares. “But I always knew I was going to do Perillo Tours. I didn’t have to interview,” he adds with a chuckle. Steve’s eyes light up as he recalls his first trip to Italy at the age of 11. “I gotta tell you, if you got a chance to cross the Atlantic in a boat, you’re not on some leisure cruise,” he laughs. “I had champagne when we arrived in Italy. I don’t remember much else, but that moment stuck with me.” The Perillo family’s love affair with Italy wasn’t all business—it was all family, too.
Steve paints a nostalgic picture of summers spent in Riccione, near Rimini. “My father, Mario, he loved taking the whole family - cousins, aunts, uncles, everyone - to these all-inclusive beach hotels. We’d spend six weeks there every summer. You’d get a little table marker, and the wine you drank at lunch would come back out at dinner. It was the same thing every freaking day of the summer, but it was magical.”
These early experiences shaped Steve’s understanding of what is at the heart of travel.“We’re not just selling vacations,” he emphasizes. “We’re creating holidays to remember. And there’s a big difference. A vacation is about escaping. A holiday? That’s about experiencing.”
Steve’s father, Mario, famously known as “Mr. Italy,” took the company to new heights with his charismatic TV commercials. Steve, often referred to as “Mr. Italy, Jr.,” followed in his father’s footsteps, even having his commercials parodied by Adam Sandler on Saturday Night Live. “It’s funny,” Steve muses, “here we are, in one of the most modern states in America, selling experiences in one of the oldest countries in Europe. It’s that contrast that makes us unique.”
Despite having visited more than 25 countries, Steve’s heart is always pulled back to Italy. “Every time I see someone on one of our tours light up as they master the perfect pizza dough or successfully navigate a conversation in broken Italian with a local shopkeeper, I think of my grandfather Joseph, stepping off that boat in New York. And I think to myself, ‘This is what it’s all about. This is why we do what we do.’”Producer of the feature-length documentary (in final phases of production) Lost & Found in Italy, in Search of La Nuova Vita, which documents the real reasons people leave the rat race for sometimes chaotic Italy, Steve shares with me his own dream of a new life in the old world.“I wanna relocate.
I wanna be part of this Renaissance thing too,” he says, eyes twinkling. “I wanna get a villa in Umbria. It’s part of my latest dream, inspired by you, the book, this film and the experiences we’ve created for others over the years.”
In Steve’s heartfelt recollections, one can see the true legacy of Perillo Tours - a business built not just on showing people the wonders of Italy, but on immersing them in the culture, the traditions, and the warmth of Italian life. From Joseph’s arrival in the New World to the unforgettable experiences they create in the Old World, Perillo Tours continues to weave a tapestry of travel that is as rich and enduring as Italy itself. As Steve ponders the eternal question of travel, he muses, “See, the question is, do you see Rome, Florence, and Venice? Should you go back, or should you go to New Zealand? “42% of Americans don’t have a passport.* The empty-nesters who do, they’re going to go once in their life. What’s the answer? Should you go to Italy? Should you not go to Italy? For the Perillo family, the answer has always been clear - Italy, again and again, each time discovering something new in a land as timeless as it is ever-changing.”
*Source: US Department of State, Census Bureau, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist
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