Ladies Ski jumping still isn't as appreciated in the world as some other sports, but the municipality is convinced that the ski jumps are expanding their tourist offer, and contribute to the recognizability of the place.

The races held at Ljubno at Savinja have been the best visited of all the races since the very beginning of the Ladies Ski Jumping World Cup. The audience at the female ski jumps in the Upper Savinja valley is larger than the audience at all the other races put together. People come from all parts of the country, and visitors from Austria, Germany, Norway and even distant Japan can be found among the audience.

The visitors cheer for all the ski jumpers, but naturally the audience's support is the loudest for Slovenian ski jumpers. Once a "female eagle" starts sliding down the in-run sirens go off, Kurent's bells start ringing, children start blowing into plastic vuvuzelas. "One must admire those girls for just daring to climb up there," a spectator from the Dolenjska region said. "That's crazy, I want to become a ski jumper as well," six-year old Ana is thrilled. During the break, and after the race an accordion starts playing, and a number of ski jumping fans start singing the well-known song: "Rom, pom, pom, še ne gremo domov!" (Rom, pom, pom, we are not going home yet …) Ljubno lives for ski jumping, which is also confirmed by a wooden sculpture placed at the square next to the local symbol – a sculpture of a raftsman.

Committed local citizens make it possible
This year weather caused a lot of problems. Due to high temperatures they were not able to produce enough artificial snow, and a week ago the snow groomer broke. But they still managed to prepare for the race, thanks to the president of the ski and ski jumping club Ljubno Alojz Murko, and the committed local citizens. They brought more than 80 tons of snow by trucks from the Pavlič pass, and more than 200 volunteers groomed the snow with their skis. "Everybody helped, from raftsmen firemen, football players, hunters, to mountaineers. Every single society participated," Martin Juvan, the chief of the ski jumping hill, explained.
Tourism is blossoming
There are no beds to be had in the Upper Savinja valley at the time of the ski jumping race. Ski jumping teams, technicians, journalists, cameramen, photographers and visitors book rooms a whole year ahead. The ski jumping star Sara Takanaši from Japan was in Ljubno accompanied by six journalists. "All rooms are taken, there are more and more visitors from abroad. And they came back later as well, for a longer holiday," the owner of the Planinka hotel Helena Vizjak Žirovnik mentions.

"This race has really placed us on the map of tourist destinations. The number of visitors is increasing also because of ski jumping," Franjo Naraločnik, the mayor of Ljubno, is certain.
Plans for future
During the last decade the municipality of Ljubno has invested more than one million euro into renovation of the ski jumping hill. They intend to continue with the investments into sport infrastructure. "Next to the ski jumping hill a sand volleyball court and a football field are planned, we are also considering an adrenaline park," the mayor explained.