More effort will be needed to produce the same results in Slovene tourism this year, since the competition is becoming much stronger. All countries are increasing their tourism marketing budgets and this will have to be done in Slovenia as well, says Bojan Meden, General Manager of the Slovenian Tourist Board. The organization will receive over two billion tolars (€ 8.4 m) for the promotion of Slovene tourism this year.
What markets will the STB focus on this year?
This year the STB will focus primarily on our three most important markets, Germany, Austria and Italy. The advertising budget for Germany has been increased by 130 percent, and funds for the promotion of Slovene tourism on the other two markets will be increased by 100 percent. We will also be paying special attention to Great Britain, Scandinavia and France. The most we will earmark for an individual advertising campaign is 200 million tolars (€ 840,000), while the rest of the advertising budget will be distributed among other campaigns. The ‘Slovenia Invigorates’ campaign will be targeted mainly at the British, German and French markets. Slovene tourism has risen markedly on the French market, and the STB will be opening an information office in Paris this year.
How much will be earmarked for partnership activities on promising markets such as Scandinavia, France, Russia and Israel?
Around 60 million tolars (€ 250,000), where we will mainly support programmes connected with recognition and marketing products to airline passengers. In addition, we are planning 48 appearances at trade and tourism fairs this year, which is 17 percent more than last year, at 13 of which Slovenia will be making its first appearance.
How many foreign tourists visited Slovenia last year?
The number of foreign guests in Slovenia increased by 9 percent last year to just under 1.5 million. Total tourism visits increased by four percent over last year to 2.3 million. The number of foreign overnights also increased, by four percent, while the number of overnights by domestic guests fell by three percent. The highest number of foreign guests were Italians, whose visits increased by nine percent over the previous year, while their number of overnights increased by eight percent. The number of German guests also increased by four percent, but their overnights fell by five percent. The number of guests from Austria, which is also one of Slovene tourism’s top three markets, increased by two percent, while their number of overnights remained at the same level. Guests from Slovenia fell by two percent last year in terms of both visits and overnights.
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