Summer = tourist season here, and all sorts of lovely languages floating around. Now, I of course know what *ciao *means. But I’ve been hearing something lately that I hadn’t before. It sounds to me like “cha-chow”. I’m guessing it might just be “ciao ciao” spoken very quickly. Now, is this distinct to a certain region of Italy? Is it a super casual use, like how we would say “bye bye”? Thanks for your help.
It certainly is “ciao ciao”, and it’s not distinct to any particular region… I wouldn’t say it’s super casual, it’s just a different way to say “ciao” when you go away. It’s not more informal, maybe slightly more friendly, but actually there aren’t any differences, really…
k.
Are you sure the people you heard saying that are Italian?, In Argentina and here in Uruguay a common, friendly farewell is “chau chau”; obviously derived from the italian version, but more similar to your “Cha-chow” interpretation.
Can’t really dispute it but I’ve been to Italy four times and have never heard that. The only person I’ve ever heard it from is from a friend of mine here who is Iraqi.
Well, I’m Italian and I often use such expression with my friends. I admit it’s less common than a straight “ciao”, but we happen to use it. 
k.
Umm, how is that different from say “bye bye” which is more often than not pronounced as “buh-bye” very quickly.
Appart from the language, none at all.