HVALA LEPA!

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

In this last blog I only want to say everybody thanks for all: “Thanks for your time, for your patience, for the accommodation, for the food, for the transport… These two months have been a great time for me. Thank you Tina and Dejan (my host entrepreneur) you have taught a lot of things about the innovation in tourism and you have helped in all moments. Thanks to Sebastjan Rosa (the intermediary organization) he picked me up in Trieste airport the day I arrived and we have been in touch during this time. Thanks Maja, you showed me the beautiful Kamniška Bistrica and Velika planina (I will never forget the food in Velika planina in that foggy day). Dolores and the girls of Turag4all we had great time together, and thanks for the coffees; I want the best for you in your new business and help everybody to travel. Barbara from Humanitas you opened my eyes to “responsible” tourism. My Portorož friends: Andreja, Neli and Lia, we had a good time at Slovenian coast, thanks for showing me Villa Salina (grear sunsets from there) and Villa Marina… and Mateja the woman who showed me Koper and gave me a bottle of olive oil that they produce. Polona showed me all the corners of the Eco Hotel in Bohinj, an incredible hotel with all the facilities (I hope that your future plans will be successful); and thanks Darko, Roman and your family I had a great week with you in Žetale (Haloze), thanks for showing me the beautiful hills, the ski, the silence, the peace…

Thanks to everybody I have met; I want to be in touch with all of you and I would like to see you soon: if you come to my little Salamanca please write or phone me and I will show you my city or maybe I come back to Slovenia soon. Adijo all my friends and remember that you have a friend in Spain!

Žetale

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

I spent the last week in Žetale ; do you know were it is? Don’t worry I'll explain to you where it is and what you can do there. I think that once you have read about it you are going to plan your trip to Žetale. The first thing is that Žetale is part of Štajerska region. The capital of this region is Maribor (95.787 habitants in 2010), the second biggest city in Slovenia. And between Maribor and Žetale there is Ptuj , the most antique city in Slovenia (Ptuj is a historical city with a rich heritage on the banks of the Drava River. The town centre reserved the medieval city core, the castle, churches, monasteries, squares...). Žetale is also part of the region called “Haloze.”
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I have read that “Haloze” is one of the poorest and more rural area in Slovenia. But I like Haloze a lot: here, all is beautiful: I like the green of the hills (now white for the snow), the great sightseeing of Donačka gora, the starry sky; the peace, the silence, the tranquillity, … But what I like the most is the people that live in this region: They are very friendly and they are always wishing to teach you a lot of things about this zone, about the wine, the food, the history…

For me Haloze was a great discovery. I have been in different farms, churches: I recommend that you visit Ptujska Gora (a lot of pilgrims visit this gothic church where the most remarkable one is the statue of Virgin Mary - the patroness with her mantle as she invites people to her side. Under the mantle there are images of more than 80 people)  … I have tried its great wine (white wine region) and I have enjoyed the traditional gastronomy… I have walked in the ecological trail… I have been in the Ptuj Thermal Spa… oh yes, I have enjoyed a lot. I think this region is perfect for nature lovers, for people who like tradition, history…this region is perfect for everyone: young, adults, elderly people…

The actual demand of tourism in Haloze is good, but in my opinion it’s necessary to advertise the high points of the region, especially in big cities like Maribor or Ljubljana and try to attract more people from there. (Maybe making weekend’s packages). It would be great if there were more information about this region in travel guides for foreigners… And in the side of the supply I think that now it is good, but it is necessary innovation, supply new things to the customers…

I hope you like the description of Žetale and Haloze and if you have any doubts, don’t hesitate to ask me.

See you soon, Juan

Meetings' week in Ljubljana

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

My friends, here I am again; I am going to tell you about the things that I did last week. I was in Ljubljana and I had different meetings:

On Monday morning I had a meeting with Barbara from Humanitas. Do you remember that I had told you about her in my blog? She told me about the things they do in Slovenia and in different countries of Africa (Ghana, Burkina Faso…) and we were talking about the “Responsible Tourism”. But what do we understand under this term? This kind of tourism does not harm neither natural nor social environment of the local communities visited and aims to contribute to its economic, cultural, social and environmental sustainability. It also thrives to connect tourists with local cultures and raises awareness on the problems local communities face. Within the project they have developed seven workshops for tourists (traditional weaving workshops, workshop of bronze making crafts, cotton workshop where participants visit organic cotton farms and get acquainted with the cotton situation in Burkina Faso, mango workshop, local beer production workshop…). Humanitas does not organize travels to Burkina Faso but aims to include workshops into already existing tourist programmes of Slovenian and foreign travel agencies. Moreover, it aims to raise awareness among Slovenian tourists and travellers on the importance of responsible tourism and to encourage Slovenian tourist agencies to include main responsible tourism principles (collaboration with local organizations and communities, financial transparency of collaborations, fair payment of local guides and partners, financial investments in social and development community projects, use of environmentally friendly transport etc.) into business strategies. The meeting was really interesting and I will look into Responsible Tourism in Spain.

On Wednesday afternoon, when it snowed strongly, I met Simona Bandur, journalist of the daily newspaper Delo. We met in Preseren Square and we had coffee in the Kavarna Union. She wanted to interview me and she asked me why I came to Slovenia, what the program Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs was about, how I felt here, what my future plans were etc. Yes, we talked for about 30 minutes and yesterday the interview was published in the newspaper! You can read it here (in Slovenian, sorry!) :)

On Thursday and Friday Slovenian Forum of Innovation took place at the Convention Centre Gospodarsko razstavišče in Ljubljana. I went there with Tina (Zavod Novi turizem) who was there to present the project Bank of Tourism Potentials in Slovenia. They were chosen among 50 innovations to be presented at this fair. There were different exhibitors: electric cars, airplane, strange cellos... On Friday morning me and Tina presented the programme Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs at a workshop hosted by Sebastjan Rosa (my Intermediary Organization). I told them about my excellent exchange.

On Friday evening me and my roomate Michiel went to the Etnographic Museum and later we watched the turning on of the Christmas Lights... Later some friends joined us and we had dinner and we enjoyed Ljubljana at night. My dear Ljubljana, how much am I going to miss you when I go...!