Why Slovenia? Why not!

Juan Lopez, young Spanish entrepreneur discovering Slovenian tourism (more pictures)

Hello everybody,

I’m Juan López and I’m from Salamanca (Spain). I arrived to Slovenija on 14th of October and I’ll be here until mid-December. I’m here as a part of European Commission  program “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs”. This program is a new cross-border business exchange programme aimed at helping new or would-be entrepreneurs to acquire the relevant skills for managing a small or medium-sized enterprise and experienced businessmen or women, looking for fresh perspectives and international cooperation opportunities.

When I saw the “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” webpage I thought why not start a business? And I thought it could be a good idea to meet different entrepreneurs and different companies from which I could learn many things. I was sure I wanted to participate in the program. But where to go? I could choose between the 27 European Countries forming the European Union (except Spain) and I chose Slovenia, but Why?

I have travelled through Europe and I have been in big countries like France, Italy or Germany. These countries are wonderful but are often crowded and people are very stressed. I wanted to visit a small country that is not very well known or at least not known in depth. Discover its cities, its people, its food, its landscapes. And so I thought why not go to Slovenia?

I know some people who have been here and they have told me that Slovenia was a beautiful country and that people were very hospitable; I have watched some TV-documentaries and I have read some books. Then I wanted to go there, the European Commission approved my request, I packed my things, I took the plane… and here I am in Slovenia.

I found a Host Entrepreneur that wanted to take me in, his name is Dejan Križaj and he is the director of New Tourism Institute and the initiatior of Bank of Tourism Potentials in Slovenia project. Through the Bank, NT cooperates with numerous tourism businesses and organisations so he can help me get in touch with tourism companies that I will visit.

During these two months I will write about Slovenia, so I can help people get to know this small great unknown country, which is at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Mediterranean and the Balkans.

I hope you like this blog and if you have any questions, suggestions or comments do not hesitate to be in touch with me by email: juanloopez@gmail.com

See you soon!