The creators of the local tourist stories gathered at the traditional meeting of municipalities and mayors in Ljubljana Festival Hall. They presented their success stories, and the annual Golden Rock Award was bestowed to the developmentally most propulsive municipality.
Six Golden Rock Awards have been already bestowed. The first was awarded in 2012 to Idrija, and in subsequent years the awards went to the municipalities of Postojna, Škofja Loka and Šentrupert, last year it was given to the capital of Slovenia, and this year to Podčetrtek.
The award ceremony opened with a discussion on tourism
The important role in choosing this year's winner was tourism, which has been quite often mentioned in Slovenia these days. Recently Slovenia proudly took leave from the largest tourism trade fair ITB Berlin, as it received praise and the National Geographic esteemed award.
Slovenia as a model for sustainable tourism
Maja Pak, Director of the Slovenian Tourist Organisation (STO), recapped her speech from Berlin: "There is no going back, now the entire world is looking at us." She said that we had successfully presented our country as one of the sustainably most developed, and were recognized as such. ITB singled out Slovenia as the key project.
"We became a role model for sustainable tourism," she stressed the achievement. "I was very pleased when the other countries came to inquire how we did it. And how did we achieve the total cooperation of government, destination, providers, even climate change activists etc. The decision was mainly based on the green commitment of all the agents, the Slovenian tourism green scheme, our unique model," she explained.
Ljubljana emphasizes the importance of cooperation with other municipalities
The capital of Slovenia, last year's winner of the award for the most propulsive municipality, can boast of record numbers in tourism. Last year a new record was set with almost 1.28 million of overnight stays; becoming an example of good practice for other municipalities.
Petra Stušek, Director of the Turizem Ljubljana public institute, explained that a clear vision of the leading staff is a must, and that they cooperate with all the municipalities of the central Slovenia, as dispersion of tourist is beneficial for everybody. She emphasized the fact that they are mainly striving to assure quality products, and sustainably oriented boutique stories.
Slovenia as a boutique five-star destination
The new tourism strategy is being prepared on the national level as well. It should be completed by June, and obviously it will also mention the boutique approach. "We intend to present Slovenia as a boutique five-star destination for healthy, green, and active experiences," Renata Martinčič from the Tourism Directorate at the Ministry of Economy.
Tina Hacler, MMC
Translated by G. K.
