Slovenia about to make a breakthrough in golf tourism

This year's growth in no. of tourists also reflects in no. of foreign golfers on Slovenian golf courses

24. december 2017 ob 12.25 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

Although Slovenia has been an undiscovered golf destination until recently, this is expected to change next year. Foto: MMC RTV SLO

Next year, Ljubljana will host one of the most important events in golf industry - IGTM 2018, the International Golf Travel Market.

This year's growth in the number of tourists visiting Slovenia has also fuelled growth in the number of foreign golfers on Slovenian golf courses. Five years ago, Slovenia was still a gray spot in Europe's golf tourism due to a lack of promotional activities and poor direct flight connections. Things started to change in 2015, when the International Association of Golf Tour Operators organized a prize for the most promising golf destination. Together with Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Austrian Carinthia, Slovenia established a cross-border project called Alpe-Adria Golf, whose promotion has placed the country on the European map of well-established golf destinations.

At last week's IGTM 2017 in Cannes, Slovenia accepted the nomination for organizing the next golf and travel market (IGTM 2018). According to influential tour operators, Slovenia can thus expect a breakthrough from an undiscovered destination for golf to becoming a renowned golf destination. Namely, the event will bring more than 1,200 decision makers and golf tour operators as well as representatives of various golf-specialized agencies to Ljubljana. During the annual IGTM event, 80% of all golf tourism transactions are concluded. This is a challenge for Slovenia, where to tour operators currently only bring 5 percent of all golf tourists.

According to State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy Eva Štravs Podlogar, who took over the nomination of IGTM, Cannes was an exceptional organizational feat. Therefore, the Association for Golf Tourism (GIZ GOLF) has already been established to connect all golf-related providers in Slovenia – from golf courses, hotels, Tourism Ljubljana to the Slovenian Tourist Board and the Ministry of the Economy.

"It is extremely difficult to get a place on the golf map of Europe, where Spain, Portugal and Turkey are in the centre. We are still a relatively unrecognizable destination, which is why golf tour operators are very pleasantly surprised when they come to Slovenia. They get a quality service at a level they haven't expected, " explains Žiga Osterc, president of GIZ GOLF.