Hungry for more
Time to hit the road again. Mariska is ready for her third journey with her camper and cat to the South of France, more specifically, Provence and Cote d’Azûr. During her journey as a digital ‘event’ nomad, she will cover stories and share her adventures from her journey along the way. Her first journey was to Poland in the spring of 2022, in the autumn of 2022 she went to Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Now it’s time to discover and explore another destination.
MICE ambassador
She will travel to Provence and Côte d’Azur where she will visit the following destinations, Cannes, Mandelieu and Nice. She became the MICE ambassador of these regions in February this year. “I am so grateful to work with a client who understands the power and impact of B2B influencer marketing. And to have freedom and share my experiences and adventures why these regions are perfect for MICE. It’s a co-creation. It was meant to be to visit the destination where I have good memories with my husband. And to explore what has changed in the past years.”
It’s not ‘just’ an online campaign
“The collaboration doesn’t exist just about online campaigns, it’s a mix of online and offline activities. That’s the power of B2B influencer marketing. A part of the collaboration is IMEX. We are preparing with Atout France, Linkeus and the partners for IMEX, to see how we can capture the attention of the visitors,” says Mariska.
The power of a community
Mariska will wear her trademark, a cap. “It’s nice to have something that people can recognize. In the winter I wore a hat and came up with the idea to create tailored caps.” She has a group of loyal followers from the MICE industry and beyond. They like her stories, her adventures and her authenticity, even among the local people. “Some people never comment but when I meet them in person, they mention detailed information from my blogs. It’s heartwarming to have such a group of loyal followers. And even if they are not all event planners, they can become event planners or at least inspire them about the destination to go on holidays. Never underestimate what one blog post can achieve.”
Trends
The digital beast is immensely hungry for good content. With her journey and content, she wants to inspire, inform and guide planners and suppliers on how to become top of mind. “It’s tough competition and with the information overload, it’s not easy to stand out from the market. Enough challenges but I do believe that creativity, sense of humour and authenticity will win,” says Mariska.
Proof of concept
Besides ‘just’ showing the destination it’s also her purpose, her personal mission to launch her new own project. “I was and am still an event organiser,” she says and smiles. Walking along the beach for people who are going through a grieving process. She launched the formula in the Netherlands which was successful and noticed during her previous travels that topics like grief and loss are difficult. “We need to talk about it to go through the process, says Mariska, but where do you find the people that want to share their emotions? That’s my mission, bringing people together in a low profile activity, walking along the beach and having lunch together. Creating an environment in which people dare to share their emotions. And the coastline of these regions are beautiful, it’s fantastic to have so many opportunities.”
About Mariska
Mariska Kesteloo is an entrepreneur, author, international speaker and digital nomad. She travels with her cat through Europe in her camper. She is passionate about B2B influencer marketing and founder of Word of MICE and informs, inspires and guides destinations and other suppliers from the meetings and events industry about this topic. Next, she organises walks and journeys for people who go through a grieving process.
Find out more about her journey at https://www.wordofmice.com/.
