Slovenia at the WTM London

At WTM London, Slovenia was promoted to UK and global media as a green, active and healthy destination, featuring Ljubljana as European Green Capital 2016. WTM London is one of the world’s largest international tourism fairs and traditionally takes place during the first week in November in London. For a few days, the fair brings together the entire global tourism and travel industry, while events and activities taking place at the venue are covered by global travel and tourism media. Each year, more than 2,000 international media are present at the WTM.

At World Travel Market London 2015, Slovenia was present with a stand at Entrance N3 by the main West Entrance Gate, traditionally one of the most frequented locations, where other European countries were also featured. As organised by the Slovenian Tourist Board (STB), 18 Slovenian companies were featured on the Slovenian stand this year.

WTM London is focused on the most recent trends in the travel and tourism industry and, in addition to presentations in the exhibition halls, there is a range of accompanying events: meetings of the highest representatives of individual participating countries, thematic lectures, and presentations of scientific and research achievements in the travel and tourism field.

In the last five years, the number of WTM visitors has increased by 20%, and in 2014 more than 50,000 business visitors, international media correspondents and government representatives attended. This year the WTM remains closed to the general public.

Socialising over the most healthy breakfast

On 3 November, representatives of the Slovenian tourism sector and UK and global journalists socialised at what was probably the healthiest breakfast at this year’s WTM!

Ms Maja Pak, MSc, Acting Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board: “This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Slovenian Tourist Board, and since the very first year of our operations we have been featured each year at one of the world’s largest tourism fairs, WTM London. The WTM provides an excellent opportunity to inform members of the global business, tourism, travel and media communities of events and activities in Slovenia and in Slovenian tourism. The underlying themes of this year’s presentation on the Slovenian stand were Ljubljana as the European Green Capital 2016 and Slovenia as a green, active and healthy destination. Constant presence on the market increased promotion during this year and perception of Slovenia by UK media have all contributed to the high growth in the number of tourists from the UK. During the first nine months of this year, there has been a 23% increase in the number of UK tourists, who represent the fifth most important market for the Slovenian tourism industry. Traditionally, their most popular destinations include municipalities in the mountain regions of Slovenia and Ljubljana, this year’s central partner within the framework of Slovenia’s presence at the WTM. In addition, UK guests are increasingly deciding to spend their holidays at Slovenian spas. In terms of length of stay, UK guests, with an average stay of three days, rank third among foreign tourists, Russian and Dutch guests ranking first and second respectively.”

Ljubljana – European Green Capital 2016

The central partner within the framework of Slovenia’s presence at this year’s WTM London is the company Turizem Ljubljana, presenting the “Ljubljana – European Green Capital 2016” title and the accompanying theme “Taste Ljubljana”. Slovenia continues to promote itself as a green, active and healthy destination to the UK market.

Ms Petra Stušek, Director of Turizem Ljubljana: “The European Green Capital 2016 award confirms all our efforts in recent years, and, at the same time, encourages us to continue in this way. We believe in the sustainable development of tourism, especially with regard to city destinations, since in doing so we will enable future generations to enjoy the same quality of life as we ourselves now enjoy.”

Slovenian tourism is given great attention by UK media

Slovenia and Slovenian tourism enjoy a relatively high profile in UK media: to August, more than 85 articles had been published, potentially reaching 25,099,255 readers. This year, Slovenia was thus featured in all major UK media, such as The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Lonely Planet, The Mirror, The Sun, The Independent, Huffington Post, and Rough Guides. Moreover, at least three new travel guides in English are about to be published.

Ms Eva Štravs Podlogar, Acting Director General of the Tourism and Internationalisation Directorate of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology: “It is our outstanding countryside and a superior and authentic experience that our guests wish for. As the tourism industry is very important in Slovenia and accounts for as much as 13% of GDP, generating inflows from exports of travel services in the amount of 2 billion euros, the Ministry is taking all possible steps to secure appropriate financial resources to make the marketing of Slovenia in foreign markets even more vigorous and efficient. Our objective is to gradually increase those 2 billion euros to 3 billion euros. Therefore, it is extremely important that we are present, recognisable and visible in the market. Moreover, we are aware that our and the Slovenian Tourist Board’s task is to be even more ambitious in our efforts. Just to present ourselves is not enough; what is important is that we really make people want to visit us.”

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