very selectively and thoughtfully, and above all innovatively and effectively. There will always
be competing countries with better reputations and much more funding. Therefore every day
we ask ourselves what we can do better, where are the opportunities, how can we better
activate our potentials. The great majority of our visitors come from European countries, which
is therefore where we focus the majority of our tourism promotion resources and energy, and
we also target emerging markets overseas.
I believe that there are ways we could make the promotion of the Mediterranean more unified.
I am glad that we have the same goals and that we are also trying to achieve them in the
same way: increased tourism through sustainable development. In the Slovenian Tourism
Development Strategy plan 2012-2016, Slovenia unanimously concluded that the path to
sustainable tourism is the path we want to take. Today, when this strategy’s focus period
is coming to an end, we are finding that we have succeeded in internalising the concept of
sustainable tourism. We successfully carried out a large number of projects in order to promote
sustainable tourism, and even more importantly, sustainable tourism is now integrated into all
aspects of our operations. During this period, all of the key players in Slovenian tourism have
realised that this is not just a state guideline, but also their own.
But our work in this area is nowhere near done. Despite the success of Slovenian tourism, we have
to remember that tomorrow we will have to be even better! A new strategic period lies before us,
and the question arises: how do we move forward? Is the path that we chose almost five years ago
the right one? It’s not all bad, but everything could be even better. Tourism is also competing in
the development sweepstakes, and the growth figures cannot be taken lightly. We do not have all
the answers, but we do know that the right way lies in sustainable development and connections.
I believe that connectivity is the foundation for all our current and future opportunities. Connections
at the level of destinations, countries and even wider – between countries, connections between
tourism service providers – from the smallest to the largest, from similar thematic tourism products
to combined and integrated tourism products, and weaving a thread through the known and the
unknown, from the familiarity of the traditional to the freshness of the new.
More than one billion tourists travel every year, and this is an exceptional opportunity to do
good work and make the world a better place. Tourism has always offered a home to the people
of the world, but now it is also faced with the challenge of providing security. Since this is the
basic foundation of tourism, we support the measures of the Slovenian government and the
EU towards providing security. In times when the world is facing its dark side, when fear and
intolerance are trying to prevail, tourism has an exceptionally important mission to increase
necessary understanding and promote a culture of peace. I sincerely hope that mutual respect
between hosts and tourists grows beyond the borders of holiday destinations, and that tourism
truly becomes an advocate of sustainable development, for both people and the environment.
In this regard I warmly salute the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation and look forward to
working together and supporting the development of tourism.
INSIDER SPECIAL EDITION
2015
93