Ljubljana’s LUV Fest Wins Prestigious Skift IDEA Award 2026
Ljubljana’s LUV Fest has won a prestigious Skift IDEA Award 2026, placing the Slovenian capital in the international spotlight for its innovative approach to year-round tourism. The festival of love, art and wandering was named the winner in the Tourism category, standing out among 492 entries from around the world.
Created by Ljubljana Tourism to enliven one of the city’s traditionally quieter visitor periods, LUV Fest combines culture, community and creativity while strengthening Ljubljana’s appeal beyond the peak season.
Skift is one of the world’s leading sources of news, research and analysis for the global travel industry. Now in their eighth year, the Skift IDEA Awards recognise projects helping shape the future of travel, from destination management and marketing to sustainability and technology.
This year, 492 projects from around the world competed across 32 categories. Finalists were selected by Skift’s editorial team, while the winners were chosen by an independent international jury of experts from organisations including Etihad, Marriott International, Trip.com, Hilton, Google and Apple.
In the Tourism category, won by LUV Fest, projects were assessed on criteria including innovation in marketing, visitor experience, responsible tourism and engagement with the local community.
An Innovative Approach to Destination Management
Ljubljana Tourism created LUV Fest as a response to tourism seasonality, while rooting the festival firmly in local culture and tradition. It begins on 8 February, Slovenia’s national cultural holiday, and concludes on 12 March, St Gregory’s Day, traditionally associated with the arrival of spring and love.
Under the shared theme of love, the festival brings together a wide-ranging programme co-created by cultural, non-governmental and educational institutions, independent creatives, young people and primary school pupils.
It also provides a platform for emerging artists to present their work to a wider audience in an open-air gallery. In doing so, the festival enriches city life, encourages the development of new cultural content and attracts visitors during a traditionally quieter time of year.
In just four years, LUV Fest has become a recognised part of Ljubljana’s tourism offer. The first edition in 2023 involved 35 partners, while this year’s festival brought together more than 130 partners and featured over 230 events.
The number of overnight stays in February and March increased by 59% between 2022, the last year before LUV Fest was launched, *and 2025, compared with overall annual overnight-stay growth of 44% over the same period (source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia).
Ljubljana Tourism Named a Finalist in Two Additional Categories
Ljubljana Tourism’s success at the 2026 Skift IDEA Awards was further reinforced by two additional finalist placements.
MSc Petra Stušek, Managing Director of Ljubljana Tourism, was named a finalist in the Leadership category in recognition of her international contribution to destination management and her long-standing role in developing Ljubljana as a regenerative tourism destination.
The campaign “Ljubljana Is Because of Us”, expanded through Ljubljana Tourism Week, was also named a finalist in the People and Community category. The awareness campaign places residents and their stories at the heart of the narrative, illustrating the contribution tourism makes to the city, while Ljubljana Tourism Week invites locals to rediscover their own city from a visitor’s perspective.
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