Slovenia’s Mountain Resorts Thrive Year-Round: Sustainable Investments Drive Visitor Growth

At the recent press conference, the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, the Slovenia Outdoor Association, the Slovenian Ski Lift Association and the STB showcased key innovations within the country’s mountain resorts, detailing how these upgrades have boosted visitor numbers during the off-winter season. The Outdoor Slovenia Association and the Slovenian Ski Lift Association presented impressive results from the transformation of traditional ski areas into versatile, year-round mountain destinations. New offer for the 2024/2025 winter season, along with modernized facilities, promise to captivate both skiers and all-season adventurers, further advancing Slovenia’s commitment to sustainable and innovative tourism development.

In 2023, Slovenia’s mountain resorts undertook extensive investments to expand their offer beyond the winter season, resulting in a significant boost in visitor numbers. During the summer of 2024, resorts recorded a 30% increase in transport usage over the previous year, reaching a milestone of 1 million transports. Visitor numbers followed suit, with half a million guests — a 20% rise compared to the same period in 2023.

These strong performance indicators are the result of the recent investments and provide an example of good practice for continued development of the mountain resorts into year-round attractions. Industry analyses by German and Austrian experts further underscore the economic benefits, demonstrating a multiplier effect of 1:5-7 for every euro invested in such infrastructure.

The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism, and Sport has driven one of the largest investment cycles in Slovenian tourism, issuing three public tenders in 2022 and 2023 focused on expanding tourist accommodations, restructuring mountain resorts and enhancing public tourism infrastructure. Across these public tenders, the Ministry leveraged a total of €359 million in tourism investments, supported by €142 million from EU and public funds, including contributions from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the EU React Fund and the budget of the Republic of Slovenia.

Low Carbon Footprint Tourism Product

Skiing and ski lift operations in Slovenia represent a low carbon footprint tourism option. Remarkably, 78% of the carbon footprint in ski tourism comes from transportation to the resort, while only 20% is attributed to accommodation and skiing activities and a minimal is due to lift operations and snowmaking.

Sustainable practices are central to snowmaking, which relies solely on air and water, returning 100% of the water used back to the natural cycle. This eco-friendly approach is complemented by the low energy demands of skiing activities:

• Each skier’s daily energy consumption averages just 18 kWh, covering lifts, snowmaking, ski slopes preparation etc. For context, a 30-minute jet ski ride consumes seven times this amount.
• Snow production for 1 m³ requires approximately 1-3 kWh.
• Snowmaking across a 35-hectare slope requires about 525,000 kWh per season—30% less than the energy needed to heat an Olympic swimming pool year-round and equivalent to the annual energy usage of 118 households.
• With such efficient energy practices and minimal impact from on-site activities, skiing in Slovenia represents a sustainable choice in winter tourism, balancing recreation with environmental responsibility.
   

STB’s Showcases Slovenia’s Sustainable, Year-Round Mountain Resorts and Winter 2024/2025 Experiences

The STB has enhanced its activities to promote winter offer and inspire winter holiday enthusiasts by spotlighting new offers and experiences prepared by local destinations and tourism providers for winter season 2024/25. In Slovenia, the promotion takes shape under the Vzemi si čas. Moja Slovenija. (Take Your Time. My Slovenia.) campaign, on STB’s digital channels, a newsletter for general public, engaging stories on Slovenia’s winter offer and refreshed content on the slovenia.info portal.

Internationally, STB’s global digital campaign is active in 22 markets, with a focus on countries showing high interest in active winter experiences, including Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Germany.

Beyond mountain resorts, a variety of other tourism products is being communicated, from wellness and relaxation to gastronomy and adventure in other places.

Unveiling Exciting Novelties for the 2024/2025 Winter Season

Matej Kandare, Director of Slovenia Outdoor, and Boštjan Paradiž, President of the Slovenian Ski Lift Association, discussed the impact of year-round investments in mountain resorts.

Reflecting on the success of recent investments and the unveiling of new offer at Slovenia’s mountain resorts, Matej Kandare remarked: “Slovenia has a deep-rooted tradition in winter sports, which we are excited to share with visitors who value our warm hospitality, the diversity and the size of our mountain resorts. Through coordinated efforts and stakeholder cooperation over recent years, we have introduced innovative products such as the Slovenian ski resorts’ single-season pass, which is already available, the combined season pass for skiing and cross-country skiing throughout Slovenia—launching November 15—and the Julian Alps International Ski Pass, a multi-day pass offering cross-border skiing across the Julian Alps and beyond. These products showcase the power of partnership, creating a unified winter experience that makes Slovenia a premier winter destination for both locals and guests from abroad. Beyond skiing, Slovenia offers a full range of winter outdoor activities, all enriched by a vibrant cultural, historical and culinary landscape. Together, these elements create a truly unique and immersive experience in the heart of the Alps.” 

Boštjan Paradiž highlighted the strategic vision shaping Slovenia’s mountain tourism: “In Slovenia, we recognize that seasonal enhancements alone are not enough for sustained success and competitiveness. Strategic infrastructure investments are vital to ensure year-round operation and appeal. In recent years, we’ve made significant strides forward, alongside partners and mountain resorts across the former Yugoslavia and the broader Alpine region. Last year marked a major breakthrough after a 15-year gap, with critical support from the EU React Fund and the budget of Republic Slovenia.Nine mountain resorts received the funds. This initiative fosters sustainable tourism development and the multiplier effects are already visible, with an average increase of over 20% in mountain resort visits. This success motivates us to continue investing in sustainable, innovative solutions that leverage our natural assets to their fullest. Looking ahead, we hope for continued systemic support from national and EU mechanisms to keep pace with investment trends and global competition. This investments and green transition are laying the groundwork for Slovenia’s mountain resorts to become top destinations for year-round activities. Our long-term commitment to sustainable development, which is already being followed at Kope, has transformed the area into a regional pillar of tourism and economic vitality, visibly boosting the local economy.  The first positive impacts are already evident, with Slovenia’s ski resorts fully prepared for the 2024/25 winter season. Despite a modest price adjustment of about 5%, driven by inflation and rising labour costs, we remain highly competitive. Our primary concern, however, is the increase in network fees, as ski resorts face the steepest hikes in this category. We absorbed this added cost to keep ski pass prices stable, anticipating that businesses, too, would benefit from a two-year adjustment period. Meanwhile, competing international ski resorts have increased the prices up to 20%. Despite these challenges, we are optimistic that this winter season will be exceptional, with plenty of natural snow to delight visitors.”

They highlighted that skiing enthusiasts now have access to a nationwide ski pass, with detailed information on the Slovenian Lift Association passes available on the newly updated website, www.skislovenia.net.

Slovenia’s cross-country ski resorts have also seen rapid growth, introducing a common cross-country ski pass this season, following its successful debut last year. This pass grants access to most cross-country resorts throughout the country. Visitors can find additional details, purchase options and up-to-date snow conditions on the Slovenia Outdoor website.

Cover photo (from left to right): Boštjan Paradiž, President of the Slovenian Ski Lift Association; Marjana Grčman, President of the Slovenian Association of Tourist Journalists; Livija Kovač Kostantinovič, Head of Domestic PR at the Slovenian Tourist Board; and Matej Kandare, Director of the Slovenia Outdoor Association. Photo Credit: Andrej Peunik

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