Slovenia’s Green Tourism Model Earns Virtuoso Recognition
Published:
11.8.2026
Slovenia’s Green Tourism Model Earns Virtuoso Recognition
The Slovenian Tourist Board (STB), with its Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism (GSST), was named a finalist for the 2026 Virtuoso Global Stewardship Awards.
The awards recognise achievements in responsible and sustainable tourism. Slovenia was selected among the top three nominees from more than 300 submissions by members of the Virtuoso network. In the destinations category, the award went to the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.
Slovenia’s place among the finalists further confirms the international recognition of its systematic approach to sustainable tourism development.
The finalists and award recipients were announced during Virtuoso Travel Week 2026, held in Las Vegas from 8 to 14 August. The Global Stewardship Awards recognise partners within Virtuoso’s global network whose work creates a positive impact and contributes to the responsible development of tourism.
STB reached the finals with its submission featuring the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism, Slovenia’s national sustainability programme and certification scheme that brings together sustainable tourism initiatives under the Slovenia Green brand.
The submission was prepared in partnership with Ljubljana Tourism, holder of the highest-level Slovenia Green Platinum destination label and one of Europe’s leading cities in sustainable and regenerative tourism.
The sustainability story of Slovenia Green and Ljubljana
The submission connected the Green Scheme’s nationwide, systematic approach with its practical implementation in Ljubljana.
It presented the GSST as a comprehensive national model bringing together institutions, destinations, local communities, tourism businesses, educational organisations and residents. The scheme encourages destinations and tourism providers to operate sustainably and meet internationally recognised standards.
Ljubljana was highlighted as an example of the tangible impact of this approach. Former industrial and underused areas have been revitalised and given new cultural, creative and community functions.
Projects such as Center Rog, Cukrarna, the Old Power Station, the former Tobacco Factory area and the Baza youth centre help preserve heritage, enrich life for local communities and encourage visitors to explore beyond the historic city centre. At the same time, they offer travellers a broader insight into Ljubljana’s contemporary identity.
Virtuoso Travel Week – a major global event for luxury travel
Virtuoso Travel Week, taking place in Las Vegas from 8 to 14 August, is regarded as one of the world’s most important annual business events for the luxury and experiential travel sector.
The event brings together several thousand leading luxury travel professionals and suppliers from more than 100 countries, with a programme featuring one-to-one business meetings, educational sessions, networking and presentations of the latest industry trends.
The STB has regularly attended Virtuoso Travel Week since 2017. At the event, Slovenia is presented as a green, boutique and diverse destination for discerning, higher-spending travellers seeking authentic experiences, high-quality services, meaningful contact with local communities and responsible ways of travelling.
STB representatives are expected to hold more than 100 individual meetings with representatives of the US travel industry during the event.
US – Slovenia’s key long-haul tourism market
The US is Slovenia’s most important long-haul tourism market and plays an important role in the country’s strategy of attracting visitors who generate higher added value.
US travellers show strong interest in high-quality and authentic experiences, nature, culture, gastronomy and active holidays. The market also offers significant potential for further strengthening Slovenia’s international visibility, supported by high-profile partnerships, sport and prominent Slovenian ambassadors.
Among Slovenia’s sports ambassadors, Luka Dončić plays a particularly important role in the US market. As an ambassador of Slovenian tourism and one of the country’s most internationally recognisable athletes, his global profile enables STB to connect interest in his sporting achievements with the promotion of Slovenia as his home country.
Through the stories of Dončić and other elite Slovenian athletes, Slovenia strengthens its image as a green, active and inspiring destination, while reinforcing the message “It’s all in our nature”.
Tourism results also underline the importance and potential of the US market. In the first six months of 2026, Slovenia welcomed 98,105 visitors from the US, who generated 219,446 overnight stays.
Compared with the same period last year, arrivals increased by 23.4%, while overnight stays rose by 20.9%, demonstrating strong positive momentum in one of Slovenia’s key tourism markets.
Be up to date about what’s happening in Slovenian tourism. By subscribing to our newsletter you will receive the latest trade news in the field of tourism and other current information on a monthly basis.
Share with friends
Scroll down until you see the heart icon on the left.
Click on the icon and the content will be added to favourites.
When you revisit the page (in the same browser), the content will still be saved in your favourites.
The General Terms and Conditions determine the conditions and manner of using the Slovenian Tourist Board’s Media Library services. In the Media Library, users have at their disposal high-resolution photos and audio-visual recordings of the products and services offered by Slovenian tourism, which are to be used solely for non-commercial purposes as defined below.
General rules of application
Registration is required to use the Media Library’s services. Registration is available to any legal entity in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad, regardless of their legal form, whose activities involve marketing, promoting and presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Photos and audio-visual recordings (hereafter: materials) may be used free of charge for all non-commercial publications that constitute promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, abroad or in the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions.
The right to use the materials is not limited in terms of time or place (the use is permitted in Slovenia and other countries) unless a restriction relating to location and duration of use is specifically provided for an individual item of material.
The Slovenian Tourist Board reserves the right to revoke a user’s right to use certain materials at any time.
The rights acquired based on these General Terms and Conditions may not be transferred to third parties.
Citing the source and authorship
Photos and audio-visual recordings may only be used with consistent citation of author/co-authors and source: www.slovenia.info.
Rights of use
A registered user of the Media Library shall obtain the following non-exclusive economic rights to use the downloaded photos and audio-visual recordings:
the right of reproduction and distribution,
the right of making available to the public,
the right of public presentation,
the right of including photos in other copyright work.
The above rights refer to all forms of non-commercial and free-of-charge online posts, print media, audio-visual media services and other communication channels, regardless of the type of media (print, digital), which includes:
Digital catalogues, e-magazines, newsletters (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Publication in print and other media that report on the Slovenian tourism products and services or promote Slovenia as a tourist destination;
Use on social media as part of organic posts (reporting on an event, press releases (solely unpaid posts);
Printed promotional materials, prospectuses, leaflets, brochures (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Promotional events in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad (e.g., tourism fairs, exchanges, workshops, presentations, etc.) that are exclusively or predominantly intended to promote Slovenia as a tourist destination.
The above forms of use include solely a free-of-charge form of using materials for the purposes of promoting tourism activities and services in the Republic of Slovenia or presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Prohibited forms of using materials/commercial use of materials
Using materials for commercial purposes, such as reproduction on postcards, T-shirts, books, magnets, embedding audio-visual inserts in one’s own promotional materials, all forms of external advertising (stationary billboards, digital advertising, etc.), use in advertisements unrelated to the promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, use on websites that are not intended to present Slovenian tourism products and services and similar activities, is not included in these General Terms and Conditions and is prohibited.
It is strictly prohibited to use materials on media and distribution channels that are marketed or sold to users (books, school textbooks, other commercial publishing, calendars, postcards, fast-moving consumer goods (clothes and other products), advertising of non-tourism products and services, reproduction of materials on vehicles, etc.).
Using audio-visual materials is allowed only in the unchanged form available in the Media Library. Transformations, adaptations, clips, embeddings, and instances of using individual shots in one’s own audio-visual works, even if intended for promotional purposes, is prohibited.
Breaches of General Terms and Conditions
Any breach of economic and/or moral rights of the authors of photographs or audio-visual recordings may constitute a criminal offence and may result in substantive and damage liability of the user.
The entity breaching copyright pertaining to the material shall reimburse the Slovenian Tourist Board for all the damage incurred to it due to the breach of rights.
The Slovenian Tourist Board shall not be liable for any use of photos and video recordings that is contrary to these rules. The user of the material shall be entirely responsible for the content and manner of use.
General provisions
These Media Library General Terms and Conditions shall apply for all instances of using the material unless the Slovenian Tourist Board and user agree on special terms of using the material in advance and in writing for a specific instance of using the material.
These General Terms and Conditions shall be subject to occasional amendments. Upon the user’s publication of the material, the version of the General Terms and Conditions that is current at that particular time shall apply for the use of materials. If the user disagrees with the amendments made to these General Terms and Conditions, they shall immediately cease using the material and remove it from all media and other communication channels.
Alma is a ChatGPT-based virtual travel guide designed to help you find information and inspiration for your next visit to Slovenia. She is full of ideas for great experiences, knows Slovenian destinations and the variety of activities you are particularly interested in, so she can offer you personalised content and inspiring stories available on the official slovenia.info tourism portal.
Our virtual advisor was inspired by the intrepid world traveller Alma M. Karlin; therefore, we named her ALMA.
I give my consent to the Slovenian Tourist Board to use cookies that enable the display of content (e.g.: audio clips, video clips, images) from other online sources (YouTube, Spotify, etc.) and remember my language selection on the www.slovenia.info website. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store anonymised data about my activity on the website, which will be used to provide a better user experience for visitors to the portal in the future. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana,
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
E-mail: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record my activities on the website regarding my visits to individual types of content in order to produce and display better quality content that is of interest to me.
As the Slovenian Tourist Board strives to display high-quality and interesting content on the website, it wishes to measure responses to the displayed notifications and content, track user activity on the website, and create user profiles for targeted advertising, and therefore automatically processes and analyses personal data and assesses user interest in displaying and receiving notifications. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store information about my interests, displays, and clicks on advertising content for the purpose of providing specific, topical, high-quality, and targeted advertising content, as well as for the purpose of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and limiting the repetition of advertisements. These settings apply to advertisements displayed by the Slovenian Tourist Board via advertising on social media platforms (e.g.: Meta, LinkedIn, etc.), international search engines (e.g.: Google), as well as through online applications and activities that directly address the user. Such cookies allow us to track our campaigns online. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with myrights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
Privacy settings