Heading to Kensington; The Destinations Travel Show

I have been so excited to blog about my experience at Destinations Travel Show! For those of you who don't know, (and don't worry I didn't either) Destinations is a big exhibition where companys, continents, countries and places from all over the world meet in one place to promote what they are and what they can offer to the travelling public.

Located at the Olympia Exhibition Centre this year, I hopped off the train at Kensington and stood in awe outside just bursting with excitement. I have to say it did feel good to slip down the 'B Entrance' with an Exhibitors pass, smiling stupidly as if I was some kind of member of the MI5. I embarrass myself.

The reason I was there is because I work for a marketing company called redPepper and we represent the beautiful region of Basilicata in Southern Italy. I was so excited to be on the stand because despite not having yet travelled to Basilicata, I am so passionate about the region, and our stand looked great.

After setting up the literature and preparing for a busy day, I got a quick chance to go and explore before they let in the public. The other stands were incredible; with places in the world I had never even seen before, I was like a kid in a sweet store! Unfortunately at that point I had to run back and get into promotion mode as they announced that the event had started.

It felt amazing to enlighten people on the region of Basilicata, 'it's a little hidden gem that Italy offers' I told people as they looked at our stand with puzzled faces, wondering if we were located in Spain, or Brazil. Many were put off by the lack of tourism in the region, looking for an all inclusive, all organised holiday without having to worry, although by the end we had managed to change peoples minds and open them up to a different kind of holiday all together. One with adventure, romance, scenery, culture and beauty, and it felt amazing to watch people turn from 'Ohh it's only Italy...' to 'Can we book with you today!'

On my lunch break I finally got to have a proper look around the exhibition and what I saw was truly incredible. Over in Africa and China there were native singers and dancers performing, and Switzerland even had 200 pound St Bernard sprawled out across their stand. It was madness!




Mentally I spent millions travelling the world, it was fascinating to learn so much about other places in the world first hand. I have to say one of my favourite parts was that they had an Indian street food van, and oh my, I had died and gone to heaven!


Being at Destinations has been a journey for me as it has made me realize just how important travel is and that this is really what I want to do, and representing Basilicata has just been an absolute joy. This summer I will be planning my journey to visit the region I know so much about and I hope you will still be following my travels to hear all about it.

In the mean time check out our website for Basilicata, (especially the blog pages where you will find more of my work there!) Maybe you will find a new destination to travel to and fall in love with it as much as I have. www.discoverbasilicata.com

Thanks for reading, see you on my next adventure,

Jadeene. x