Why Sports and Tourism always feels Slovenian?

Slovenian Sports Day | eTurboNews | eTN
Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Sport represents an extremely important part of the Slovenian identity and an important generator of Slovenia’s social and business excellence.

Slovenia may be the only country in the world honoring sports with a national holiday. Slovenia’s national Sports day was celebrated on September 23.

One of the most important reasons why sport is such an important part of Slovenian identity is its pristine and diverse nature, resulting from Slovenia’s unique location at the crossroads of four geographically completely different worlds.

A well-organized sports infrastructure puts this EU country among the top in the world regarding the number of sports achievements per inhabitant.

Slovenia is gaining visibility as an exceptional tourism destination for preparing athletes and major sports competitions. It is also becoming extremely popular among travelers seeking a destination for active outdoor adventures.

For 2022 and 2023, the Slovenian Tourist Board has defined sports tourism as the main communication theme.

This includes active adventures in nature and sports events and preparations. As a result, even more attention is being given to the promotion and development of this important and, at the same time, promising tourist product of Slovenian tourism, which perfectly connects with other tourism products and at the same time upgrades them.

International sports events hosted by Slovenia are extremely important for promoting the country.

The STB strengthens the visibility and reputation of Slovenia through intensive communication and promotional activities, and cooperation with Slovenian athletes. For this purpose, the I FEEL SLOVENIA brand is being highlighted at sporting events at home and abroad.

By doing so, the Slovenian Tourist Board reaches millions of sports enthusiasts and fans of active leisure.

This year, Slovenia has already hosted several high-profile international sports events. Among the most notable ones are the Men’s Volleyball World Championship, which was moved from Russia to Slovenia, and the EHF European Women’s Handball Championship (Ljubljana, Celje, Skopje, Podgorica), which will take place in November.

For the latter, the organizers will not only focus on the sporting aspect of the event but also on the empowerment of women in sports and society.

But it is not only sports events that take place in Slovenia that raise the visibility of Slovenia – thanks to the exceptional success of Slovenian athletes, sports events that take place abroad also form an important part of the mosaic.

 The Olympic Games, World and European championships (European Men’s Basketball Championship this September), and recognizable cycling races, including the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta, and the Tour de France, which, thanks to the exceptional success of Slovenian cyclists, turned out to be an excellent opportunity for highlighting Slovenia.

Slovenian Tourist Board accompanied this high-profile sporting event with a wide range of promotional activities and ensured additional exposure to Slovenia.

Connection is the key.

By connecting key stakeholders in the sport and tourism and through coordinated (co)operation, the STB strives to help set coordinated and sustainable measures and events, bringing long-term economic, social, and promotional effects to Slovenian sports and tourism.

With the aim of coordinated cooperation of key stakeholders and the preparation of strategic directions and priority measures in the field of sports tourism, the STB’s Expert Group on Sports Tourism was established in 2022, which is working on the Action Plan for the Development and Marketing of Sports Tourism in Slovenia 2022-2023.

This is the basis for marketing and promotional activities in the field of sports tourism in Slovenia, emphasizing sports events and athletes’ preparations.

Slovenian athletes – the ambassadors of Slovenian tourism

The STB continues and builds on cooperation with top athletes and ambassadors of Slovenian tourism, who have been helping increase Slovenia’s global visibility as a tourist destination for many years.

This year, Janja Garnbret also became the Ambassador of Slovenian Tourism and joined Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič (through Jumbo Visma).

Watch Feel Slovenia YouTube channel.

Agreements are also underway on the continuation of cooperation with Luka Dončić and Ilka Štuhec, as well as with Rok Možič. With him and Jan Kozamernik, the STB recently shot a promotional video in which they tested their knowledge of Slovenia’s tourist attractions on a sand court in a relaxed environment.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Share to...