Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 7.1.
Slovenia: location map of major tourism resources.
The chapter is divided into two main
parts describing the development of tourism
in Slovenia. After the introductory part, which
presents the main characteristics of the
Republic of Slovenia, the chapter proceeds by
reviewing tourism development in Slovenia
since its independence. The focus is on pre-
senting the main tourism indicators in Slovenia
within the last two years. The latest changes
in the tourism industry after Slovenia joined
the EU are discussed. Contrary to this main
part, which describes the direct effect of
Slovenian tourism and presents it through sta-
tistics, the second part of the chapter stresses
the development process of the tourism desti-
nation brand 'Slovenia'. Development of the
'Slovenia' brand is introduced through two
views of a destination brand: the internal and
external perspectives. This part concludes by
describing the possible impacts of Slovenia's
accession to the EU. In the author's opinion
this could represent a new challenge for
enhancing the value of the tourism destina-
tion brand 'Slovenia', which could lead to build-
ing up a strong country brand.
Review of Tourism in Slovenia
Tourism is one of the most promising sectors of
the economy in Slovenia. Its important role was
also recognized when Slovenia was part of
former SFR Yugoslavia. In 1990, just a year
before Slovenia's independence, 2.5m tourists
were recorded, of which 1.8m were foreigners.
The 10-day war in Slovenia that immediately
followed its independence had a negative
impact on Slovenian tourism. A considerable fall
in foreign tourist numbers was recorded and,
although the number of international tourists has
been steadily rising since then, these figures
have not equalled those from the beginning of
1991. In 2004, around 1.5m international tour-
ists were recorded in Slovenia, who made
almost 4.4m overnight stays. On the other hand,
the opposite trend is recognized for domestic
tourists because their numbers have increased
significantly since Slovenia's independence.
Further, in 2004 the country had 0.84m domes-
tic tourists who made 3.2m overnight stays,
representing a slight decline compared to 2003
(SORS, 1991-2005) (Table 7.1).
