Tricali was founded in 2005 by a small group of Mediterranean-life aficionados that firmly believe in the benefits that tourism can generate for beautiful, off the beaten track Italy.

The key concept behind Tricali's business is to offer a practical, grassroots solution to developing the local economies in the villages it works with through the promotion of residential tourism. City dwellers and Northern Europeans are offered a slice of Italy and a traditional, basic village home to enjoy over the course of the years at the price of a small car.

The village homes are situated in areas that are as beautiful as Tuscany, yet suffering from slowing economic growth. They all have a fledgling services industry whose development needs to be encouraged.

Tricali is committed to exclusively using local workforce in the village projects. At most, one or two non-local delegates may be present in each village to help coordinate and oversee the projects – though never on a permanent basis. As such, the benefits deriving from the village projects filter through directly to the locals, and enjoy the backing of the local city councils.

The philosophy fuelling the Tricali ethos is that of ensuring everyone involved benefits from the development of the sustainable tourism projects.

Starting from the local builders, to the local restaurant owners and the services providers, to the communities that become richer as inflows from property taxes increase, to the foreign home buyers that purchase a property at the price of a small car and use it often, thanks to low-cost airlines – everyone involved in the projects is able to reap an advantage.

Key to Tricali's projects are its partners. All those involved in the projects - the local services providers, the local partners, the restoration teams and the international property brokers, to name but a few - firmly believe in the quality of life the villages offer and the ethos of the projects. Village living is seen as a way forward towards a different and improved quality of life.

Tricali is currently active in the region of Abruzzo, an hour and a half from Rome, the capital city of Italy. There, it has projects in the villages of Villa S. Angelo, Tussillo, Ripa, San Panfilo, Fossa and Casentino, and is working closely with the local authorities in the earthquake reconstruction program.

It is also present in the region of Basilicata, close to the heel of Italy, in the villages of Grottole, Miglionico and Irsina.

Tricali recently completed a project in the town of Calitri, in the region of Campania, and is launching its new, exciting Bay of Spices location in Albania in early 2010.