Question about travel agent

Have you considered just booking a tour? I would be surprised if a travel agent would be interested in booking only land arrangements, and not accomodation or flights.

Incidentally, it sounds like you're willing to do the hard work, such as booking flights and accomodation - what else is left? Realistically just some train travel and perhaps a few tours.

Italy is pretty easy to get around, but if you don't want to manage it yourself, I think a tour may be tbe best approach.

we want to book... air bibs on our own.

A suggestion? If you're already uncomfortable with an unfamiliar language, you might consider hotels with 24/7 desks versus airbnbs where you are likely to have little support. Someone at hand ready to answer questions and be able to offer assistance in a crisis, such as a medical issue, can be a plus.

That said, Italy really is a pretty easy country to manage on one's own, depending on where one wants to spend their time. The larger cities and areas popular with visitors from abroad are generally well used to doing business in English of various levels of fluency so that shouldn't be a big concern. As well, Italian trains are great; not that difficult at all to manage once you get the hang of it; you'll have lots of help here getting arms around that bit.

Another question? Some of your traveling companions are adults, correct? If you're uncomfortable making certain arrangements, why not enlist their help? No reason you should have to do all of the planning yourself, and this forum - plus guidebooks - are available to help your companions as well as yourself with planning transport, tours, etc. (although tours are not necessary for EVERYTHING) as well.

Editing to add: with a group, a package tour is an idea worth considering.

Where are you thinking you'd like to go on this trip? What's the age span of your family group?

Simon makes an excellent point! I used to work in the travel industry, and at another point in my career worked with TAs to book travel for rich bosses, and I concur with his comments.

If you do want to use a travel agent, and have an Amex card, you might consider checking out their services. My 84 year old aunt has been traveling Europe for the last decade, with and without companions, and has used their Amex TA services. I have witnessed her agent (well, overheard the phone calls) on several occasions getting her out of jams and into cool experiences that she might not otherwise have been able to access

You don't need a travel agent. Do your own research, using this forum is helpful.
It is a good idea to check for group tours. We like them because everything is taken care of, lodging, transportation, entrance fees and tours. We usually buy air travel separately, unless the tour company fare for air is exceptionally low.

Gate 1 Travel has great tours and their prices are hard to beat. We have done several with them.

Adding to the above:
I see now from a previous 2019 post that you've already been to Italy: a cruise that included stops/excursions to Pisa, Rome, Naples, and Venice, and that you'd intended to rent a car to explore Florence, Siena & San Gimignano on your own. It's uncertain what you ended up doing (Did COVID cancel that trip?) as you had lots of suggestions for additional Tuscan locations, but you may not be not completely new to the country, the language, the culture, etc.?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/looking-for-local-current-culture-in-small-tuscany-towns

I think that if you feel that you want or need a travel agent, whatever your reasons are, you should have one. You’ve made it clear that you’d be more comfortable getting some help. So, what are your options? I see two important questions that I would address first. Where do you live? and What is your budget? (both for the trip and the agent; some work for a flat fee, others on commission). Some larger cities have agents that have regional or country specialities. Others have Italian cultural clubs that work with local agents to develop programs for smaller club groups. In our area, there are also churches that organize trips (some religious and some not); maybe the clubs or churches could point you in the right direction. Depending on the individual, the agent would be able to help you organize an hybrid “I’ll do this, you do that” tour, but some are a “take it or leave it” provider. Other agents do this sort of work, but are high-end planners specializing in unique experiences, luxury accommodations and worry-free travel for the client. I’ve never spoken with this type of agent who wasn’t very expensive, both their fees and trips they plan. Out of reach for a lot of people. Based on what you’ve said, though, doesn't sound like this is what you’re after.

Moving on, there are other issues to consider. Where in Italy will you be? How long will you be there? How much moving around do you plan to do? What are the ages of your party? Are you comfortable with public transportation or do you prefer a more personalized approach, like a car/minibus or van, and driver? What’s the focus/foci of your travel — art, food, museum, family activities , beaches, all of the above? With a group of 7-9 people you are pretty much your own self-contained tour group. Joining a pre-existing tour would make your life easier, and you’d have a on-site problem solver should you need one, but it also could be difficult if you are trying to always move as a group and/or have different interests/ages and it likely will pricey. For example, in addition to the guide, you would be paying for a lot of hotel rooms as opposed to a single, larger, private property that keeps you together as a family. And you’d probably have to book pretty far ahead. The other thing that came to mind is that a lot of tours have a series of one or two night stops. Hard enough by yourself, but with a group your size, I can see a fair share of accompanying hoopla. (Disclaimer: I am a half-empty glass kind of girl. This might be totally irrelevant for your family.). All of these questions will be things to think about as you look for an agent.

My perspective comes from a combination of experiences— self-planned and trips planned with the help of an agent. The biggest trick is finding someone who will help you accomplish what you want accomplish at a price you can afford. I hope you can find the perfect person for you and your family.

There are many travel consultants in many countries that are not traditional travel agents. So they don't work on commission from flights, hotels, etc. But for a fee will plan with you a customized trip and coordinate arrangements without flights, hotels. I don't know one for Italy in particular. But when I was planning a similar group trip in Provence there were many I found for that area. I would google "italy travel consultant" maybe see if any of them have blogs or youtube videos to get a sense of style and personality and then schedule video call or something like that to interview one.

As Laurie Ann mentioned, you want a Travel Consultant, working for a fee, not a random Travel Agent.

The first difficulty is finding one that is an expert on travel in Italy. There are ones out there, but probably not down the street at the closest agency.

You can find all the travel agents hanging out down the street at the Blockbuster video rental shop.

Generally, "travel agents" are now an anachronism, made obsolete by the internet and the (so-called) "wisdom of crowds", chasing the absolute cheapest anything, to the exclusion of any other consideration. Capitalism being what it is, the entire worldwide economy now seems to be focused primarily on these "the-cheapest-everything-is-all-I-want" consumers The disappearance of travel agents is one result among others.

Most of us have accepted the necessity of becoming our own travel agents. The OP sounds like they are perfectly capable of doing the planning and execution.

Don't worry about language issues - there are none. Your biggest issue (and it's going to be a big one) is the size of your group - moving 7-9 people is challenging anywhere.

I'm torn on whether to suggest Bellarome, https://bellarometravelworldwide.com/tours/. We are generally independent travelers who had been to Italy twice before. In 2023 we went to Milan, Turin and Stresa with a group of friends who organized the trip through Bellarome. Half of the group had never been to Itlay and one of those couples had never been to Europe. Most of the internal arrangements - including hotels - were made by Bellarome. While the drivers, tours and guides they arranged were very good and the wineries selected excellent they dropped the ball when I asked them to arrange a side trip for myself and husband to Pavia. My understanding is that Bellarome is more specialized in southern Italy, so maybe that was why they weren't able to make the Pavia arrangements. Since we were only presented with a final bill I have no idea whether the fees or commissions Bellarome charged were reasonable. I can only say that the final bill did not seem outrageous given what we received. We did tip our drivers because they really did go above and beyond what was planned and expected.