So, welcome in our world! Thank you for your interest in my travel blog about Italy. On this page I write about the history and the milestones of my travel blog, as it originated many years ago.
I started this blog to share my love for Italy with others. After spending a month in Italy in 2009 – in the city to be precise Napels – I started This is Italy on June 1, 2009. At first it was just a blog to share my personal travel experiences.
Table of contents
A new life
Later I thought that it would be a shame to let my Italy blog with my travel reports fall apart. I collected news and blogs from others about Italy and offered it via www.ditisitalie.nl with a link to the source. For example, an early version of my Italy site became an overview page of all Italy news that appeared in the Netherlands and Flanders.
Italy virus
To this I added my own articles that I wrote on the basis of my next trips to Italy. Because since I was infected with the Italy virus in the city of Rome in 2000, I come every year (several times) anyway.
Around the year 2012 I started more own news to bring. And I gathered some other bloggers around me who helped me grow the site and discover new sides of Italy.
Since I started publishing articles on my travel blog Italy several days a week, things have been going fast! To distinguish myself from the other travel blogs about Italy, I also wrote many magazine-style articles about Italian culture and striking things that are different in Italy than here.
Note the logo I ordered through '5 dollar logo' 😉
The great growth of This is Italy
This is how Online Italy Magazine was born This is Italy. Especially since 2014 there has been a significant growth in the website. And in 2016 we almost doubled the number of visitors compared to the previous year. I now write 'we' because I had gathered a team of fellow writers around me.
In 2018 we are one of the largest travel blogs about Italy in the Netherlands. We have more than 50.000 unique visitors per month and this number is still growing. In the summer of 2018, the website reached a provisional peak of 75.000 unique visitors.
I maintain the website with ads and sponsored articles. Yet it is far from being possible to live off my travel blog. Everything I earn with the website I put into new content and use it to further supplement and improve it. And of course to pay for the hosting of Savvii (not cheap, but good).
2019-2020
In 2019 there was a small change of name. Instead of DitIsItalie.nl, I now simply refer to this travel blog as 'This is Italy'. New visitor records were broken in 2019. What is striking is that This is Italy is becoming less seasonal, but that there is more and more interest in all things Italy throughout the year.
That is also the reason that in the dramatic year 2020 for tourism and Italy in general (due to the corona virus), the site still managed to grow in visitor numbers. The tourist articles were viewed a lot less (except for a peak in the relaxed summer), but the columns, recipes, news articles and cultural articles did all the better.
At the end of 2020 I will put the finishing touches on my own Italian course, in collaboration with Italian teacher Lotje Lomme. This course is expected to be available via the site at the beginning of 2021.
2021
Despite the coronavirus restrictions, Italy is more popular than ever. Food, cars, fashion, music. All subjects with an Italian twist can count on a lot of interest.
But the visitors of This is Italy were also eager to go to Italy. Unfortunately, in the summer of 2021 there is still a lot of uncertainty and we still have to deal with restrictions.
Nevertheless, This is Italy again set visitor records with this year's first month with more than 100.000 unique visitors. After the song contest was won by the Italian band Måneskin, the site even succumbed to the pressure of the number of visitors, which would reach 1,5 million by the end of the year. We will have to upgrade the hosting again.
And with these increasing costs, it is extra welcome that This is Italy was also admitted this year to the advertising program of the American company Mediavine, which appreciates our hard work.
Dozens of people are now taking the courses This is Italian via the website.
2022
The growth will continue in the year that the corona measures are scaled down again. The tourist articles are in huge demand. In the summer of 2022 we will pass the magical limit of a quarter of a million visitors (250.000) in one month.
As an experiment, we are adding a translation of the blog articles in English and German. The French language will most likely follow later. The translation is done by machine translation based on a neural network.
We also add a Basic Italian course to the offer. An advanced Italian course is in development for 2023!
2023
At This is Italy we now offer 4 Italian courses: the Basic course, the Vacation course, the A1 course and the A2 course.
In May 2023 we achieved a new visitor record of no less than 600.000 unique visitors in one month.
This is Italy in the media
Various media have reported about This is Italy. I am also regularly asked if I, as an Italy expert, would like to give my opinion on something. A number of mentions of This is Italy in the media can be found below:
- Typically Italian – I'm Departing Magazine
- Fast food Italian and classic Italian are great neighbors – Journalist.io
- Tuscany is a big favorite among Dutch and Flemish holidaymakers – Zakenreisnieuws.nl
- Italian Wine Magazine – Vacanceselect
- Clooney VS DiCaprio – who has the best holiday home in Italy?
In everyday life
Of course I also have to put bread on the table. That's why I'm also in daily life copywriter for numerous commercial clients and I offer a number of online courses on copywriting. And I also write books. So far I have published 5 thrillers and a dozen short stories. One of my books is set in the blistering south of Italy.
My plans are to grow This is Italy even further in the near future, with the help of many volunteers and freelancers. I will report here when there are new milestones to report!
