Blog Tour in the Sila National Park.

At the beginning of November, the Sila National Park organized a blog tour in collaboration with WeLike Association in order to promote its territory.

Le Vie della Perla – Viaggiare in Calabria, as member of the Association, was involved in providing environmental guides, accommodation and several advice thanks to its experience.

The Sila colours in Autumn

Organizing a Blog Tour is like organizing a simple “journey”: you have to host some bloggers and take around them showing the most interesting places, because the bloggers are simply travellers who love travelling and discovering new locations. At the end of their experience they write about it on the blog site for their fans and followers and share posts and pictures on their social network profiles.
Nowadays people search more information about a specific destination before leaving, so this is a new way to travel and promote a land.

Blog tour in Sila National Park

So 7 bloggers were invited to stay in Sila for 4 days: Adelina Guaglianone, Concetta Maria Valente, Eleonora Tramonti, Maria Teresa Mauro, Michela Mazzotti, Silvia Badriotto and Luca Ippolito. They are from different parts of Italy and specialized in travel, food&wine and photos. Some of them write on blogs which are written in English, too.

The bloggers in the Fallistro Giants Reserve

It was an interesting journey around the Park of Sila where they visited natural reserves with their high centenarian pines, wild animals and wonderful views, breathing the purest air in Europe.

Sila National Park

They discovered the traditions of weaving craft and jewelery making meeting the Spadafora family and their jeweller’s and Domenico Caruso with his School of Carpets which still uses the traditional loom.

The tradition of weaving craft in San Giovanni in Fiore

They visited San Giovanni in Fiore, a little village in the Great Sila which is famous for Gioacchino Abbot, a theologian who had been named by Dante in his “Inferno”, and Taverna, in the Little Sila, the village of the great painter Mattia Preti.

Taverna

They tasted typical dishes with local products of this land such as mushrooms and potatoes, but also salami and cheeses.

Typical products in Sila National Park

They enjoyed the Adventure Park in Lorica (there is another one in Zagarise in the Little Sila) and went on the bobsleigh.

Bobsleigh track in Lorica, Sila National Park

They were surprised by the warmth people who helped us during our tour making the blogger stay unforgettable.

The goldsmith’s art in San Giovanni in Fiore

It was a great experience for all of us, but hard at the same time with the organization of the accommodation for the bloggers, the excursions on the mountains and the sightseeing.
At the end of the blog tour, thanks to the Studio Salerno a web marketing expert, it has been possible to study what had happen on internet during that period following each post or image that every blogger had shared on their personal social network.

The Photo-blogger Luca Ippolito at work.

The results were excellent demonstrating the power of this new kind of communication: our message travelled faster than us.

Brunella Brusco

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