Anny was born in Lithuania and moved to Lisbon when she was 20. She still lives there, where she works at an eyewear company while building a new home with her husband. For some years now, Anny has been working on a personal project based on her biggest passion: traveling.

Since 2017 Anny is managing her personal blog http://www.travelwithanny.com and her Instagram account  which boasts nearly 40K followers. Through these platforms, she shares her travel experiences, providing advice on places to visit, recommended hotels, and activities for each destination. Her stories and articles offer people useful tips for their future trips.

Some weeks ago, Anny had the opportunity to travel to Cyprus, where she discovered MeedBEESinessHubs project which has been preparing a comprehensive and tasteful experience centered around beekeeping and honey. MedBEEsinessHubs has been working for nearly two years to promote the Bee Economy concept based on honeybee products and services, including in the context of tourism. Now, it's time to share this experience with the world. They decided to collaborate with a travel blogger, a content creator, or a so-called "influencer" to try the experience and share it with others. Anny was contacted by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, lead beneficiary of the project, and enthusiastically accepted the invitation. She spent 4 days in Cyprus, where the project accompanied her to explore the world of BEE tourism, also known as Apitourism.

Anny's posts and stories garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from her followers, who expressed their gratitude for the tips and requested more information. She created videos and photos in the first person, showcasing how one can live this unique tourism experience, creating interaction among followers, the content creator and even the destination managers. Times are changing when it comes to promoting products, especially in visually and sensorially engaging experiences like this one thanks to MedBEEsinessHubs.

After her trip, Anny agreed to have a conversation with the ENI CBC MED Programme to share her experience and discuss how content creators can contribute to the communication of EU-funded projects. She revealed that local tourism agencies often collaborate with influencers to promote destinations, but this was the first time she heard about a European cooperation project doing so. Her followers were also surprised.

Promoting destinations through this channel has several clear advantages: travel influencers can reach larger audiences (some even up to 1M followers), but more importantly, they can ENGAGE their audience and interact with them while showcasing eye-catching pictures and stories. This goes far beyond the traditional TV commercial or advertising poster. Travel bloggers can also introduce people these not-so-crowded places, new eco-friendly alternatives, or simply recommend a new restaurant or activity that suits their taste better.

For cooperation projects, turning into content creators represents a fresh opportunity to shift towards more engaging communication, reaching younger audiences, and breaking away from the bureaucratic and corporate style that projects are sometimes bound to. And it's not just about tourism; content creators are already discussing topics like research, startups, training opportunities, nature protection, and practically any subject you can think of.
 

Content creators have the capability to engage new audiences, creating eye-captivating pictures and stories.
Many of my followers expressed their surprise when they learned that cooperation projects could do such innovative things like MedBEESinessHubs.

Anny, travel blogger

Anny used to be the type of person who planned every detail of her trip, but nowadays she lets herself go a bit more and enjoys the journey as it unfolds. Her future plans include completing her new home and, of course, traveling at least once per month. She'd like to experience more nature tourism in Costa Rica, the Philippines, or go on a safari, with the goal of turning her passion into her way of living, sharing her tips and thoughts with her community for every place she visits.

Meanwhile, in mid-summer, the quintessential season for traveling, the ENI CBC MED Programme reflects on how future project communication should evolve, what new resources are available, and how audiences are changing, all with the ultimate goal of showcasing their projects to the world.

We wish you all happy holidays!

ENI CBC Med team