Maribor Tourism celebrates a record-breaking year

With charming Old Town that sits beside the Drava River and buzzes with cafes and while cobbled streets hiding a surprising number of museums and art galleries as well as the oldest grape vine in the world, Maribor has become a popular spot for active holiday lovers, cultural enthusiasts as well as foodies.

In 2017, 178,686 tourists visited Maribor, which is 14% more than in 2016. Significant growth has been recorded in the number of foreign visitors who have contributed a great deal to these record-breaking results; the ratio between domestic and foreign visitors was 15:85. The majority of tourists came from Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, and Poland, while the longest duration of stay was marked with tourists from Italy, Croatia, and Serbia. Trends show that tourist destination Maribor-Pohorje is gaining on popularity. Its key products are active holidays, breathtaking nature, gastronomic experiences and cultural tourism, which has also been extensively promoted at numerous tourism fairs, workshops and other travel industry events all around Europe.

“Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic activities in the area. Impressive results in the last period in terms of attracting foreign tourists show that we have done a great job. Nevertheless, we still have untapped potentials, as revenues grow slower than the number of tourists, showing that there is a lack of resources for infrastructure renovation and the development of new products with high added value. But we are already improving the situation by being actively involved in many international and regional projects”, said Doris Urbančič Windisch, Managing Director of the Maribor-Pohorje Tourist Board.

This year, Maribor is also participating in the Slovenian Tourist Board initiative "Visit for a day, remember for a lifetime", which offers unique discounts at key tourist attractions for visitors travelling by car: the purchase of the vignette will grant you a number of discounts at Maribor Regional Museum and the Old Wine House, along with a chance to visit the Pohorje Hills. These activities are expected to additionally boost the number of tourist arrivals.

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