Sometimes you work hard, try various options, and knock on every door, but the success you’re chasing seems just out of reach. However, life has a funny way of surprising you when you least expect it. Success strikes from an unexpected direction. When you’re committed to your path and truly believe in the work you’re doing, the universe seems to respond. It sends unexpected gifts your way, nudges you forward, and before you know it, you’ve reached your goals.

In the middle of May 2023, our team was invited to the 4th International Conference on Rural Tourism in Batumi, Georgia, to speak about the role of technology in rural tourism. As the CTO of Biliki, I took on the role of speaker. I want express my sincere appreciation to The Tourism Product Development Agency for organizing this event.

On the first day of the event, I met two wonderful representatives of the Lithuanian Countryside Tourism Association, Agnė Vaitkuvienė and Kotryna Kabašinskaitė. Ms. Agnė, the president of LCTA, gave a presentation about Ecotourism in the Rural Areas of Lithuania where she mentioned a project they were part of – the Baltic Forest Hiking Trail, a 2141 km hiking trail that goes through all three Baltic states and is part of the E11 European trail connected to Poland and other EU countries. At that moment, I imagined all these trails in the Biliki App. Right after the presentation, I introduced myself and we agreed to have coffee the next day to discuss the potential collaboration between Biliki and Baltic Trails.

On Saturday, we had a one-hour coffee meeting with Agnė and Kotryna. We exchanged information about our projects. I found out that LCTA, in partnership with other Baltic organizations, is doing a great job researching and promoting local touristic resources, as well as supporting local SMEs. LCTA is a national level association uniting 60% of countryside tourism service providers in Lithuania, having nearly 400 members and 6 employees working in the administration. The organization promotes rural tourism, conducts research on rural tourism businesses, provides training for small businesses in rural areas, and promotes entrepreneurship among rural residents and youth. LCTA is a partner of the Baltic Trails project and is working on the Baltic Forest Hiking Trail. They also shared information about another project by Baltic Trails.

I presented Biliki, with all its features and capabilities. Agnė and Kotryna saw the benefits of the Biliki app.

“Biliki can help us promote our trails and attract more visitors to our countries. Plus, this is a door to the EU for your startup.” – Agnė told me during the meeting. Poland could be next, and LCTA promised to support us in onboarding Poland.

Three days later, on Wednesday, Kotryna sent an email with official confirmation from Baltic Trails and other partners. Two days later, on Friday, we signed the memorandum of cooperation to publish trails on the Lithuanian side. A week later, we received confirmation from Latvia and Estonia.

Under this partnership, we will publish 180 sections of two major trails, the Baltic Coastal Hiking and Baltic Forest Hiking, with a total distance of 3560 km. I have to mention that these teams did a great job tracking, gathering, and publishing information on the Baltic Trails website. The information is very organized and contains photos, text descriptions, and locations of main attractions, as well as places to stay and eat. This information will be available in the Biliki App very soon. We have already started publishing them. More than 20 tours are already available at the moment of writing.

The amount of work provided us the opportunity to offer internships to three students from the University of Georgia. They will learn tour creation standards and best practices and take part in the publishing process.

“From now on, Forest and Sea trails will be available in the international app @bilikiapp, created by brothers from Georgia. From now on, we will be more visible, and we hope this will help attract more foreign travelers!” – Baltic Trails wrote on their Instagram page. These organizations truly believe that Biliki can help their tourism industry. We at Biliki believe that this partnership will bring lots of benefits to all four countries, help transform travel, and sustain and deepen the friendship between the Baltics and the Caucasus.

The swiftness with which these teams made decisions was astonishing. It became evident that both our team and our country have much to learn from them. They identified the opportunity, assessed the benefits, and seized the moment.

Start your adventure today; download the Biliki App and explore the beautiful landscapes of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

📷 Image by Baltic Trails