Newsletter - January 2016

Greetings from Robbi and Jim

A warm welcome to all of the members of our Aroma Tours Newsletter in over 30 countries around the world.

Robbi and I trust that you have had a wonderful Festive Season and we wish you peace and prosperity in the year ahead.

We have enjoyed a much needed break with our dear our friends and family. With hearts filled, and batteries recharged, we are now busy preparing for this year's Aroma Tours season which is continuing to astound and delight us with almost all of  our tours either fully booked or down to the last few places!

As always it is our returning guests and their friends who are leading this fabulous response. We feel truly blessed to be able to share our passion for the places and experiences that we love with wonderful people from around the world. As we start to throttle back on the number of tours we are offering it becomes even more poignant for us.

Robbi and I hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you in 2016.

As the saying goes "Carpe Diem" and if you would like to seize the day and join our Aroma Tours next year, we invite you to visit our information request page for more information or our booking request page to reserve your place.

• Kind thanks to Tim Cohen ( Heart of Provence 2015 ) for this photo of Robbi and myself.

Aroma Travellers Our Thanks

Without a doubt, the main reason that we continue to grow and flourish, is the on-going support we receive from our past Aroma Travellers.

We are once again enjoyed an outstanding number of returning Aroma Travellers and new guests who joined us because of direct referrals - over 65% of our guests!

For Robbi and myself, it is such a great delight to welcome back so many good friends and to see our Aroma Tours continuing to flourish.

We would also like to give our heart-felt thanks to all of you who continue to support us with your kind words and referrals as you spread news of our tours and retreats amongst your friends.

Robbi and I also greatly appreciate your wonderful words of thanks, it means so much to us to know that we have shared a special time with you during our journey together.

If you have not already done so, please take a peek at our Guest Comments from 2015.

Flavours of Provence ( Lavender ) Tour

Late last year Robbi and I decided to change the name of our Provence Lavender Tour to better reflect the fact that it is a small group, week long, cultural / gastronomic, off-the-beaten-path tour.

This became necessary because a significant number of our site visitors ( especially those coming from cruises ) presumed that our lavender tour was a quick 1 day flick around some lavender fields - not so at all!

As a result we have chosen to re-name this tour Flavours of Provence in line with our other offerings in Spain and Italy.

We will most certainly enjoy visiting glorious fields of lavender in full bloom and over our week together we will also stay in a lovely small hotels, visit perched villages, explore the culture and beautiful countryside of Provence, experience one of the region's best markets and savour fabulous food and wines.

We have combined some of our favourite Provencale experiences in creating this lovely tour and we hope to have the pleasure of sharing the people, places and experiences that we love with you next July.

For more details please visit our information request page and if you would like to reserve one of the last 6 remaining places please visit our bbooking request page

Photos from our Three Lands of Italy Tour

One of the best ways to enjoy the spirit of our Aroma Tours adventures is by taking a peek at a few of the 1000's of photos we have taken during our 2015 travels.

Most of these images were kindly contributed by Ian Stedman from Sydney Australia who along with his wife Susan, joined for our VIP tour in north western Italy last year.

This previously "invite only" event for our VIP returning travellers is now available for us all to enjoy and has been renamed our Three Lands of Italy Tour (more details and photos below).

• We look forward to sharing more lovely images of our travels in our next newsletter.

Three Lands of Italy - Our wonderful new tour

Italy is a place of contrasts, contradictions and delights, blessed with rich cultural and gastronomic treasures and the indomitable character and friendliness of the Italian people.

To celebrate the wonderful diversity of northern Italy we have created a delightful exploration of three very different regions renowned for their beauty, culture and fabulous food and wines; hence the name Three Lands of Italy Tour.

Details of this fabulous new tour have only been available on our site for a short while and already it is almost full; largely due to enthusiastic referrals from our VIP guests ( those who have been on 2 or more tours with us ) who joined us for this tour last year as our special "invite only" guests. What a great time we shared!

Guest Comments

"Our journey through the three lands exceeded all expectations! Thank you for showing us this glorious part of Italy in such a special way. The tour was absolutely magical from start to finish - a perfect itinerary - beautiful hotels and visits and a great choice of restaurants for us to enjoy. The memories make my heart sing! Tour number eight coming up for me next year - why stop now!! Grazie Mille!" ~ Susan Troxell, New York City USA

"I would like to reiterate what a truly wonderful time we had with you and our fellow Aroma travellers. Susan and I knew that the tour would be great fun, but it exceeded our wildest expectations. Every aspect was wonderful - the food, the wine, the accommodation, the company and all the extremely interesting places we visited and the wide range of activities you laid on for us all. Carol was delightful - very knowledgeable and such a great sense of humour. It will be a holiday which we treasure and remember forever." ~ Ian Stedman Sydney Australia

We hope that you will be able to join us for this delightful gastronomic exploration of northern Italy and for more details please visit our information request page

• If you would like to reserve one of the last 5 remaining places please visit our booking request page

Our Current Booking Status

Bookings for our 2016 season are continuing to be outstanding with all of our tours now either full or down to the last few places, thanks to our guests ( mainly return travellers and their friends ) making their plans well ahead of time.

The current booking status at the time of this newsletter is:-

For detailed information about any of our tours please visit our information request page and if you would like to join us please visit our booking request page to reserve your place.

It is our pleasure to assist you with any questions you may have and we invite you to get in touch with us either by email at [email protected] or by phone on: +613 5331 3254 (afternoon/evening USA time zones, mornings from other countries). 

Please note

• Our up-to-the-minute booking status is available via our calendar page

• If the tour you would like to attend becomes fully booked, please let us know if you would like us to add you to the waiting list for that tour in case a place becomes available due to a cancellation.
• We will be gradually changing our schedule of tours over the coming years to allow us more time for other projects and activities.

Photos of our Lovely Meals

Delicious food and wines are an integral part of each Aroma Tour. From finest gourmet cuisine to delicious home-cooked fare, our meals are always colourful, authentic and flavoursome and are enjoyed in a leisurely fashion.

We love to create menus that tantalize the taste buds of our guests on tour and share the tastes and aromas of fresh seasonal ingredients prepared with practiced skill, care and pride in preparation, combine in a myriad of ways to bring us moments to savour.

For your enjoyment here are a few more images of the lovely gastronomic moments we shared during our Three Lands of Italy Tour.

We hope that you enjoyed this visual feast and we will share more yummy images with you in our next newsletter.

Provence Aromatherapy Retreat

As well as our lovely food, wine and culture based tours, educational retreats have been a long standing part of our Aroma Tours journey.

After a three year pause, we are pleased to announce that in 2016 we will once again be offering our Provence Aromatherapy Retreat focused on the use of essential oils and associated natural products for skin care, women's health and wellbeing maintenance.

In addition to Robbi Zeck ND ( our Robbi ) and her wonderful work on the emotional and wholistic aspects of aromatherapy, we are excited and delighted to welcome world renowned experts, Dr Bo Hengden of Absolute Essential ( New Zealand ) and Megan Larsen of Sodashi Skin Care ( Australia ) who will share their extensive knowledge and expertise in the development and application of natural, organic and effective products for both therapeutic and cosmetic use.

Attendees will gain a great deal of knowledge from our wonderful trainers and local experts and will be empowered to make their own natural skin care and well being products for personal or professional use. We will also enjoy the beauty and culture of Provence, amongst the blooming lavender fields and experience essential oil production from field to bottle, as well as sharing with other aromatherapists from around the world.

Past Retreat Attendee Comments

"I came to Provence with certain expectations and this week has been far beyond what I could have imagined. All my senses have been awakened and I feel honoured and grateful to have attended the retreat. I return home with happiness in my heart."
 ~ Kate Nilsen-Nygaard, Marne Norway

"I return to the USA confident and inspired to put into practice the wonderful things I have learned. What a beautiful, magical week - thank you." ~ Toni Jacoby, Phoenix USA

"I have been blessed to be at this wonderful retreat. What an incredible wealth of knowledge, set amongst the beauty of the  lavender fields. Thank you for creating such a powerful healing space. With gratitude and love." ~ Marinalva do Vale Souza,  Indaiatuba Brazil

For more details please visit our information request page and if you would like to reserve one of the last 2 remaining places please visit our booking request page

Our Invitation

Robbi and I look forward to welcoming you to one of our delightful tours or retreats in the near future and invite you to take a peek at the latest photos of our travels in our photo galleries

For detailed information about any of our tours please visit our information request page and if you would like to join us please visit our booking request page to reserve your place.

As always if you have any questions or if you would like us to assist you personally with advice about your travel arrangements. As always if you have any questions or if you would like us to assist you personally with advice about your travel arrangements or with any other details please contact us by email at [email protected] as we are now on tour.

Warmest regards,

Jim and Robbi