By gov.si
On the basis of the Promotion of Tourism Development Act, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Slovenian Tourism Strategy 2022 – 2028, which represents the basic framework for the development of Slovenian tourism in the next seven years. The strategy responds to the new circumstances and challenges faced by the tourism industry, while developing and promoting the key benefits of Slovenian tourism and our country.
In order to achieve the “green and boutique, with a smaller footprint and greater value for all” vision, Slovenian tourism is strategically focusing on developing and marketing balanced tourism offering of sustainable boutique tourism of higher quality, which is based on the Slovenian natural and cultural identity as a generator of higher value. The strategy is aimed at realising a balanced growth scenario with the “Somewhat more and much better” principle, which envisages a moderate increase in capacity and quantitative indicators, and in particular concentrating on higher quality and added value with an emphasis on measures to restructure the tourism offering in Slovenia.
It is expected that there will be positive effects on the growth of added value for all stakeholders: satisfied locals, motivated employees and enthusiastic visitors and also for future generations.
The strategy sets five strategic goals:
- to increase quality and value and ensure a year-round tourism offering;
- to increase the satisfaction of locals, tourism employees and guests;
- to position tourism as a generator of value and sustainable development;
- to decarbonise and balance Slovenian tourism and
- to ensure a competent and efficient management structure.
To achieve the objectives, the strategy identifies seven policies with specific measures:
Policy 1: investments and the business environment,
Policy 2: public/common infrastructure and heritage for creating a tourist-friendly environment in Slovenia,
Policy 3: human resources for higher added value,
Policy 4: sustainability and the green scheme of Slovenian tourism,
Policy 5: accessibility and sustainable mobility,
Policy 6: destination management and tourism connectivity,
Policy 7: products and marketing.
In addition, three horizontal policies have been identified to support the implementation of the key strategic policies:
- Digital transformation of Slovenian tourism,
- Policy guidelines in the fields of legislation and finance,
- Institutional framework and horizontal inter-ministerial and cross-sectoral management coordination of policies.
The implementation of the strategy will have positive financial consequences arising from the basic goal of the strategy: increasing the annual added value generated by tourist demand in basic tourism activities (I 55, I 56 and R 92.001) by 43% from EUR 0.92 billion in 2019 to EUR 1.31 billion by 2028, where an average annual growth rate of this category of 8.9% is assumed in the 2022 – 2028 period. We estimate that, together with other activities indirectly related to tourism, the total tourist demand by 2028 will be generated EUR 2.1 billion in added value (+59% compared to 2019), i.e. that EUR 11.5 billion in value added from all effects of tourist demand will be generated in the entire period of the strategy (2022-2028). There will also be positive consequences in the form of an increase in tourist travel exports from EUR 2.8 billion per year (2019) to EUR 4 billion by 2028.
It is estimated that, for the goals of the strategy to be realised, a total of EUR 1.54 billion of public European and national funds would need to be invested to finance the implementation of measures and activities as part of the policies of the strategy in all fields by 2028. This is only a framework of the required funds and does not constitute an obligation for the state budget.
During the validity of the strategy, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology will be drafting action plans for the implementation of the strategy every two years to specify measures that will also be duly financially evaluated.