I feel SOCIAL MEDIA

Ariane Goerke, young German entrepreneur discovering innovative Slovenian tourism

I've been following the development of the website and the marketing strategy of the Slovenian Tourist Board over the past 5 years. I think both improved a lot and I especially became a huge fan of the new brand "I FEEL SLOVENIA".


After all those years being a supporter of Slovenia as a "new" travel destination, I was able to set foot in the institution where it is all promoted: the Slovenian Tourist Board in Ljubljana. Here I learned a lot of things about the work of STB and all that innovative stuff they are doing. I had a meeting with STB web editor Luka Sever and Nina Cvirn who is responsible for social media (see photo) and they told me about the innovative strategies of STB in general and for e-marketing and social media.


What they are doing was at first not quite familiar to me. Of course, I know Facebook and Co., but there is so much more that you can do in the world wide web and SOCIAL MEDIA:


In the field of domestic marketing and public relations the STB established Next Exit and uses Foursquare. Both to simplify your travel and motivate you to go "off the beaten track" by using new routes and be able to get information via your mobile phone.


Facebook advertisements are used for specific target groups as well as the Facebook App "Slowwwbus", a game where you can win an adventure trip like rafting in Slovenia dependent on how high you scored.


STB also uses QR (= quick response) codes at their information stands during fairs and exhibitions. They even won a price at this year's World Travel Market in London for the Best Stand for Interacting with Travel Agents - Slovenian Tourist Board was singled out for the access to information made available to travel agents. Instead of weighing them down with brochures, agents could simply download everything they needed to know. A big screen where agents could also flick through digital brochures proved to be not only eye-catching but a good way of getting the information out.


Time doesn't stand still - every day there is something new. That is why the overall social media strategy of the STB including Facebook, youtube, Twitter, Google+ and Foursquare is under constantly development.


Another innovative thing I like to point out is the GREEN sLOVENia campaign:
They take part in the European Project called EDEN (European Destination of Excellence) and award best practise of green tourism e.g. ecological tourist farms.


On the next day I was kindly invited to the STB Motivational Event at Hotel & Castle Drnča near Radovljica with presentations and workshops about social media and web analytics to improve websites and user activities of all members of the portal slovenia.info. 


Hvala lepa Luka and Nina for sharing your knowledge and ideas with me! And thanks also for the invitation to the Motivational Event!


Don't forget to visit FEEL SLOVENIA on Facebook!

Martinovanje

Ariane Goerke, young German entrepreneur discovering innovative Slovenian tourism

Last weekend some friends and me went to Nova Gorica and nearby Goriška Brda. "Brda" means hills in English and the region is situated in western Slovenia near Italy. Again, I was astonished about another area I've never heard of before: with beautiful vineyards, medieval villages and many kaki trees - its fruits also ripen around St. Martin's Day. 

Nova Gorica I didn't really like so much. The town was buiIt in 1948 after a newly established border between Yugoslavia and Italy. If you like casinos and an average "American style" town, it  might be something for you. The old town (Stara Gorica) is nicer, but now lies behind the border in Italy. 

The events organized around St. Martin's Day (so-called martinovanje) in Slovenia celebrate the time when grape must turn into young wine and are getting livelier every year. Not only in Goriška Brda, but also in one of the other 13 wine regions such as Slovenian Istria, Karst, Vipava Valley, Dolenjska, Prekmurje and Štajerska/Steiermark.

Back to Goriška Brda: 

It's a picturesque area with around 80 different wine-growing estates. No offense, but it is more developed for tourism than the wine region in northern Portugal which I visited 2 years ago. There are signs everywhere leading you along "vinska cesta" (wine road) and many "kmetijas" (farms) have a restaurant and on average five guest rooms (Bed & Breakfast). 

I had a meeting with Jure Štekar at Vina Štekar in Kojsko. They produce ecological wines and offer home-made food in their restaurant. You can also stay in one of their four cosy rooms.

Don't miss it - it is really nice and the house was renovated last year.

Or visit their website for more information:

www.stekar.si/ in three languages 

www.vinastekar.si (wines, only Slovene language)

Jure gave as a little tour around the winery and we also tasted wine.

To be honest, I am not an expert when it comes to wine. I'll try to improve :-). But I can really recommend the following wines which I tasted in the last month and are typical for Primorska region (including Goriška Brda, Karst and Istria):

- Rebula (white wine from Goriška Brda)

- Kraški Teran (Teran from Karst region, a dark red wine)

- Refošk (Istrian red wine)

For matinovanje we went to the medieval village Šmartno and enjoyed a hearty jota (traditional soup) with white wine in a cosy gostilna (pub).

Thank you Jure for the great wine!

Don't forget to visit him at his wine farm ;-).

Na zdravje! 

Mysterious Disappearance

Ariane Goerke, young German entrepreneur discovering innovative Slovenian tourism

I would never have thought about visiting Cerknica and the rural area around called "Notranjska". Even many Slovenians don't know much about it, which is strange for me, because it is so close to the capital Ljubljana. Thanks to Anja from NEC Cerknica, who invited me kindly to stay at her home for one week, I could experience all the natural and cultural wonders Notranjska has to offer.

The biggest "disappearing lake" in the world (Cerkniško jezero) is an amazing natural wonder - it lies in a depression of the limestone plateau known as Karst and looks different in every season. Sometimes in summer it is completely dried out and you can walk across to see its sinkholes to subterranean caves.

If you're "lucky" you can meet bears in the Notranjska Regional Park - Slovenia has one of the biggest populations of brown bears who live here in natural forests. They are even exported to other countries ;-).

Together with Anja's colleagues we took an individual guided tour through Križna Cave. It was much better than the popular Postojna Cave which is too touristy for my taste. We walked 20 min. equipped with boots and our own lamps to a subterranean lake (one of 22! in the cave) and continued the trip by boat. The guide was very funny and multilingual.

What else? You shouldn't miss Rakov Škocjan, a valley (Karst dolina) and natural reserve with natural bridges. And then, to my surprise, we visited a hunting castle in Snežnik, which belonged to the Saxon family Schönburg of Dresden (a little piece of home in Slovenia :-)).

Not to forget the many "kmetijas" in Notranjska! Kmetijas are tourist farms that give you insight in their traditional work and producing of for instance jam, wine and brandy. We tasted home made brandy in Kmetija T'Dolenj with a beautiful view of the Cerknica Lake.

The region has a very good potential for natural tourism - in many ways. I recommend it especially for research and educational trips for instance for schools and students of geography/geology and hydrology. There is a interactive museum/interpretation center in Dolenje Jezero where you can learn more about the process of the disappearing lake on the basis of a living model.

Thank you Anja for the great time! I learned so many new things about Slovenia and the work of the Ecological Center which among other things deals with the so-called "interpretation of heritage" - one way of exploring and proving authentic tourism.

My head is full of new impressions and ideas!

Adijo!

My travel plans

Ariane Goerke, young German entrepreneur discovering innovative Slovenian tourism

One month of my stay is already over - three months to go!

I worked out the dates of my travels around the country. So far I want to visit eight different places all over Slovenia:

1. Notranjska Region and Ecological Center in Cerknica www.nec-cerknica.si/domov

2. Nova Gorica/ Brda wine region on St. Martin's Day, wine-estate Kojsko http://www.vinastekar.si/

3. Slovenian Tourist Board in Ljubljana http://www.slovenia.info/

4. Travel Agency Autentica in Koper http://www.autentica.si/

5. Castle Štatenberg and Tourism Association in Makole www.slovenia.info/?grad=3622&lng=2

6./ 7. Bohinj Turizem & ECO Hotel http://www.bohinj.si/ & http://www.bohinj-park-hotel.si/

8. Tour Operator Slavija Turizem in Maribor http://www.slavija.si/

I will do longer and shorter visits, bigger and smaller projects. With all of them I will talk about their business and situation in the Slovenian travel industry and try to learn about their products and offers in general and also if they are doing anything innovative. Others asked me to help with creating a product, how to put this especially on the German market and to find contacts in Germany. I will also look at their German websites if any correction is needed.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone and willing to learn & help as much as I can!

Check out my travel route (pic)!

Ariane