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...!

Slovenian Mediterranean

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

Only 47 kilometres of coast has Slovenia. Between Italy and Croatia, Slovenian Coast appears proud of itself. Last week I have been discovering the coast from Hrvatini to Sečovlje.

In this area the wind, the water and the salt of Mediterranean Sea join with the olive trees, vineyard, khakis, etc… Here, you can see the most beautiful colours of the sea and the earth; hear the wages, try different tastes…

My trip started in Portorož (Port of roses), I was working there in Istriana Tourist Service Portorož with Andreja Humar Fatorič and Lia; they explained me how they operate their business and showed me Vila Marina, a luxuries villa with 8 apartments, close to Marina Portorož. I stayed in Villa Salina during the time I was on the coast. The view from the Villa is incredible, you see the Sečovlje Saltpans (the photo of this blog is from there) and I recommend you go to the Saltpans and visit them. In Portorož, Andreja and her husband gave me to try: olive oil, cheese, khakis… Oh all it was very good!

Portorož was born as a thermal centre in the 18th century: water, salt, mud … with the years Portorož has become in an important tourist destination and hotels, restaurants, pubs, casinos… await the arrival of tourists (specially in summer). Only 2 kilometres from Portorož is Piran. The whole city is a monument. The first thing you see upon the arrival is the Saint George’s church Tower (similar to Saint Mark’s tower in Venice) and the most important place of the city is the “Tartini Square” I invite you to get lost in the side streets, go up to the walls and see the wonderful sightseeing of the sea and the white peaks of the Alps.

Continuing along the coast lies Koper (Capodistria), a beautiful town where Greeks, Romans and specially Venetians have left a great influence. When you go there you have to go to Tito’s Square and see “The Praetorian Palace”, “The Loggia” and “The Cathedral”. When I was in Koper I met Mateja Kozlovič, she showed me the apartments and rooms she rents: Kozlovič rooms in the middle of nature, with great views of the Adriatic Sea and the countryside. Mateja and her husband have an olive oil factory Oljarna Hrvatin and they gave me an olive oil bottle (I have tried and it’s exquisite.)

I came back to Ljubljana yesterday, I was very happy on the coast. And the weather was good (except one day when it rained all day), it was warm and sunny. Yesterday upon the return I saw snow. It was snowing a lot in all Slovenia except on the coast. So I have to prepare my winter clothes because cold and snow are now in Ljubljana.

See you soon and I am enjoying the first snow and be careful if you have to drive!

Dobrodošli v naravi! Dobrodošli v Bohinj!

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

Incredible, wonderful…! All the adjectives are few to describe the beauty of the lake Bohinj and the Julian Alps! Last Thursday I took the bus from Ljubljana to Bohinjska Bistrica and I spent two days there and I visited The Triglav National Park.

When you arrive to Slovenia, the first thing you see is Slovenia’s flag. There are flags everywhere; you see the colours: white, blue and red and in the coat of arms you could see three stars, the Adriatic sea and the Triglav mountain. If there is a symbol in Slovenia this is Triglav (2,864 metres) and Slovenian people told me that you aren’t a “true Slovenian” until you climb the Triglav mountain. Last Friday I saw Triglav from Bohinj Lake; I think I’m going to learn to climb and the next time I come back to Slovenia I could try to reach the top.

And what can I say about Lake Bohinj? It is the largest lake in Slovenia (maximum length 4,2 kilometres, maximum width 1 kilometre), its primary inflow is the Savica River (I recommend going  to see the Savica waterfall, even when you have to climb more than 500 steps) and its primary outflow is the Sava Bohinjka.

This is the environment where I was last week: mountains, lake, rivers, forest… pure nature! And when is the best moment to go there? In summer you can enjoy walking, rowing in the lake, riding horses … In spring and autumn you see the different colours of the nature, climbing, hiking…And in winter, skiing is possible in different ski centres like Vogel or Kobla.

What is the best place for accommodation in Bohinj? There aren’t any doubts: the five star Bohinj Park EKO Hotel. This new hotel offers to their guests all they need: different kind of rooms (presidential suite, business suites, family suites, standard rooms…). All rooms with warm natural materials and high standard equipment offer a magnificent view towards Julian Alps. The hotel provides 8 different sized conference halls. Restaurant offers a pleasant ambient in selected natural materials, diverse and excellent cuisine and fast room-service. Guests can choose from authentic home meals, international cuisine, vegetarian and diet offer. The hotel has its own bowling area with 5 professional bowling lanes. Park Hotel is connected with Aquapark by an underground corridor and thus offers a unique water experience: swimming pools, saunas, fitness, wellness… What more can you request? 

I want to highlight one thing about the hotel. Bohinj Park EKO Hotel is one of the most advanced ecological constructions in Europe. They use a system which consumes less energy. They recycle water; they spend less electric energy with Led technology; walls are very well isolated. When you remove your card from its dock a system activates a time delay before disabling. On every window there is a sensor, which shuts down the air-conditioning after a certain amount of time. Computer system regulates climate conditions in the room; it adapts to the outdoor climate as well (temperature, moisture, sun, part of the day ...) and makes optimal living conditions. It’s essential that we take care of our environment; if not, will new generations enjoy the nature?

So if you had read the blog, and you  would like to discover the beautiful Slovenian nature, it’s the moment to go to Bohinj! I invite you to go. When? Right now! Prepare your ski equipment because it's starting to snow in the mountains.

PS: I prepared some Spanish recipes for the employees of the hotel. Here is an advice on how to prepare famous paella:

PAELLA

Ingredients for 6 people:
7 cups of rice (cup coffee)
3 cloves of garlic.
3 ripe red tomatoes.
1 / 2 cup olive oil.
1 / 2 rabbit or 1 / 2 sliced chicken.
150 grams of cooked peas.
6 small lobsters
6 king prawns.
150 grams of sliced squid.
250 grams of mussels.
250 grams of clams.
Condiment saffron yellow.
Sal


Preparation
Place a paella pan on the fire and add the oil.  When the oil it will be hot add grated tomatoes and minced garlic.Then lay the pieces of meat and fry them lightly. Then add the rice and mix well with a wooden spoon, then add the peas, squid, mix again and add water (twice that of rice), add the salt and saffron and let high heat for 5 minutes. After this time,  lower the heat and keep cooking for another 15 minutes. When you still have some souo, add clams and mussels, cooked in advance and place the prawns and lobsters decorating over rice.
When the rice is just right, remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes and serve in the same paella.

Let’s help all people travel!

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

Hello, I am here again. Ten days ago I wrote the last blog and I anticipated some things about what I would write in this blog. So, I’m going to start:

From the first days of November I have been working in the company PREMIKI on a project Turag4all (http://www.turag4all.eu/). As you know  this company focuses on accessible tourism, they want that all people could travel (specially the people with disabilities), so I went to their office and I help them. The first day I went to Turag4all I was with Dolores (the boss) and Dolores’ team: Kaja, Fanika, Kristina and Silvia. All of them are very friendly and I have enjoyed working with them.

The company started as a project financed by the European Social Fund and Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs and it is at the beginnings. So, I have seen how an enterprise is born and how it grows. 
At the start they are getting in touch with different Slovenian associations, and hotels in search of collaboration. They visit the hotels and if the accommodations have facilities for disabled people they give them the certificate “Disability Friendly” and they promote these places. At the moment they promote different hotels in Slovenia.

The company has taken part in the World Travel Market in London (from 8th to 11th November 2010), in this fair there were more than 5,000 companies from all over the world (18 of them were from Slovenia) and more than 24,000 visitors attended. At that event people from the company met people from all over the world and they have established contacts with people and companies from Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, U.K…. In the next days Dolores is going to Valladolid (Spain), very close to my city, to participate in the third international congress on accessible tourism for all.

I helped them translate the turag4all.eu webpage to Spanish and I have looked at some contacts with Spanish companies to try establish some links with Slovenia. I’d like to highlight the organization FEAFES, Spanish Confederation group of federations and associations of people with mental illness and their families. They organize trips for people with disabilities in Spain and in Europe (París…). In my opinion I think it could be very interesting if Turag4all could work with them or other similar associations.

I have worked very happy and I have learnt differenent things that I consider very useful in my life.

Now, I’m going to prepare the suitcase because I’m going… I´m going to Bohinj, because Bohinj Park Eko Hotel is waiting for me.

See you soon.

Happy to be here

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

I want to write right now, yes it’s my birthday! I’m getting older and older, but I’m very happy. I’m lucky to be here in Slovenia, I’m blessed to work here, I’m pleasant to discover this country.

I have a lot of things to tell you, so I’m going to start at the beginning. On October 29th I went with some friends to Budapest (Hungary) and we spent there some days; on October 31st we visited Bratislava (Slovakia) and on November 1st we were in Vienna (Austria), we had a great time and enjoyed it a lot.

But now I will tell you about my work. At the social tourism workshop I attended last week I met Barbara Vodopivec from Humanitas. Humanitas is a society for human rights and supportive action. It is a voluntary, non-governmental and non-profit organisation. Its principal aims are to offer assistance to less privileged groups at home and around the world, to represent and assert their interests, and to promote tolerance. And during this week I’ll make an appointment with her because I’m interesting about the things they do. So, in the next blog you will find more information about Barbara and Humanitas.

During this week I have worked on my business plan. When you start your business plan it’s difficult because you don’t know exactly what you want, you can hardly predict things such as the expenses and incomes that you will have …but in my opinion it’s useful because it can help you think about the target audience, define comparative advantages, threats in the environment etc.

Also, I have been investigating innovation in Spanish tourism since this is the area my host entrepreneur Dejan is most interested in. There is a public company whose objective is to merge new technologies and tourism: SEGGITUR. That company aids in the management, development, implementation and maintenance of various projects. I’ve read about different projects and I think there are two very interesting: the first one is the webpage http://www.spain.info/ they run because it writes about all the most interesting things in Spain. The second one is http://www.europeseniortourism.eu/, the webpage that promotes Spanish tourism for people over 55 years old.

Also I have searched for innovative tourism products in the region where I come from: Salamanca. Salamanca is not a very big town (160,000 habitants) that lies in the centre of Spain, 210 km (2 hours) from Madrid. Salamanca is very famous for the University and a lot of people visit the city because of their studies (about 30.000 students every year) and for the monuments (the old town is a Unesco World Heritage Monument). So, Salamanca is a city with a lot of tourism potential but if people don’t offer new and different products, I believe that tourism development will stagnate.

The last things that people have done in Salamanca to attract tourists are:
-    Build and Promote Golf Courses
-    Promote Rural Tourism.
-    Experiences new sensations in Palaces or Castles.
-    Enjoy the food and the wine: catas de vino, vinoterapia, chocolaterapia
-    Spas & Health Resorts
-    Visit bulls in their environment
-    Academies where they teach you to cut the jamón ibérico
-    Outdoors Sport: cycling, hiking, trekking, canoeing, ride horses, paintball
-    River Cruises

And I’ve started working in tourist agency Turag4all, a company that promotes tourism for people with mental or physical disabilities. In the next blog I’m writing more about the things I’ve learnt and the things I’ve done with them.

To finish I’d like to tell you that on Thursday 4th November my sister and her boyfriend came to Slovenia to visit me. Like a good host I showed them around Ljubljana, we took hundreds of photos: the castle, Prešernov trg, river Ljubljanica, Dragon bridge, old town, the Town hall, Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Kongresni trg, art deco buildings… and all the places that make Ljubljana a small, but very beautiful jewel. On Sunday 6th November we discovered Bled Lake and Bohinj Lake (the last one in Triglav National Park). What can I tell you about these places? Bled is all beautiful: the castle built on top of a 130 meter cliff overlooking lake Bled, the church in the middle of the lake, the sightseeings of the alps mountains… and later we went to Bohinj… I will not tell you anything about Bohinj because I’m visiting Bohinj Park Eko hotel in mid-November (so you have to wait until I write to discover Bohinj area).

As you can see, dear readers, I don’t have a lot of time to waste in Slovenia, time flies so quickly… and I have to discover so many things…. I hope you like my blog and I'll see you soon.

Social Tourism

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

Today me and Tina from New Tourism Institute went to the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce to attend a conference about social economy. We arrived in the afternoon for the workshop "Social Economy and Tourism”. At the beginning I didn’t know anything about what I was going to listen to, but at the end of the conference I was very pleased with what I have heard. I'll tell you about the workshop:

It was about tourism, but what is tourism? The World Tourism Organization says that tourism are all the activities that people (tourists) do during their travels in places different than their own place, for a consecutive period inferior to one year and major a day, with leisure proposals, business or other motives. But I want to highlight the existence of sustainable tourism; in this tourism profits are important, but it’s necessary to merge them with the environment and social necessities. The answer on how profits can be merged with social necessities is Social Tourism.

At the workshop there were three speakers, all in charge of different Social Tourism projects.

First, Dolores Kores spoke on behalf of the Turag4all tourist agency. The idea of the Slovenian Association for Mental Health ŠENT was to establish a travel agency for people with special necessities. They think that tourism is not a luxury, but a basic right that all the humans have, so people with disabilities should not be discriminated. The agency wants to help people with mental problems to get employment and also sells tourism products for the disabled guests. Dolores told us that she wants to cooperate with new partners and we agreed I can work at her tourist agency in the next two weeks.

The next guest was Antonio Zurino from Italy. He explained us the idea behind "LE MAT.” He told us about the Social Cooperative System that they use: in these cooperatives workers own co-operatives, self-help entrepreneurs action for empowerment and decent salaries for their members, and many of the workers are exclusion people or people with disabilities. This system is used in different fields, such us agriculture, tourism…  In the tourism sector there are “LEMAT” resorts in Italy (from Trieste to Bari or Palermo) and even in Sweden (Vägen ut! Kooperativen). People who work in these resorts are ex-prisoners, ex-alcoholic, ex-drug addicts… Antonio believes that Slovenia is also ready for such cooperatives and why not start one?

The last spokesperson was Andreas Zebisch from Austria. He is the manager of Seminarkultur an der Donau, a hotel in Wenesufer. This is the only hotel in Austria where the employees have mental problems. He told us that work with these people is a gratifying experience, and amongst the ten objectives of success in his experience are flexibility and struggling against the superficial.

To sum up, tourism is a right for all the people and with tourism we can help people with problems or disabilities to integrate into the society. I am looking forward to learning more about social tourism while working in the specialised tourism agency in the next two weeks.

My first adventure: Kamniška Bistrica and Velika Planina

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

Sunday 24th October 2010, 06:00 a.m. Ljubljana (Slovenia) the alarm clock went off. Time to get up. Darkness. I left home, I was prepared for the adventure that awaited me that day. In the street all was silent and the darkness was only broken by the full moon light. I went to the bus station and went to a place that had never before heard of: Kamniška Bistrica.

In Kamniška Bistrica, Maja expected me. Maja is a nice lady who among her many jobs promotes tourism in the area. But, what is there to see in Kamniška Bistrica?

Kamniška Bistrica is an Alpine river in northern Slovenia, left tributary of the river Sava. It springs from the Kamnik Alps, near the border with Austria. It is 33 km long. Kamniška Bistrica flows through the town of Kamnik, where it is fed by the river Nevljica. So Kamniška Bistrica is in fact a river, but also the name of one of the most beautiful valleys I have seen in my life.

As a good hostess Maja showed me the most significant places of the valley, among which are the following:
• The spring of the river Kamniška Bistrica: The water springs from the moss-grown rocks and then stops for a short period of time in the artificial lake. The lake is a good place for refreshment.
• Predaselj gorge: The gorges Veliki and Mali Predaselj present the narrowest part of the riverbed of the Kamniška Bistrica. A few minute walk along the gorge opens a beautiful view on the riverbed and the colour of the river pure.
• Plečnik's Mansion: This building was built by  the architect Jože Plečnik and was The Royal Hunting Lodge of the King Alexander (Yugoslavian King).
• Memorial Park: It’s a park which includes the memorial tablets of all casualties in The Alps. There is also a memorial tablet for Tomaž Humar, one of the best Slovenian alpinists.

Maja and her Tourism Association can help you organize your trip to Kamniška Bistrica, she will show you the most beautiful and hidden places, and organize all kinds of activities such as hiking, mountain biking, archery, fishing, kayaking, zip line ... and she could  prepare a typical Slovenian food.

After seeing the wonders of Kamniška Bistrica, Maja, a friend of hers and I went to Velika Planina. Velika Planina is a grass plateau located at 1,500 meters altitude (Kamniška Bistrica is 600 meters high). From Bistrica,  Velika planina can be accessed by the cabin lift or through the mountain road. In Velika Planina, you can do all sorts of activities. In summer, you could go hiking, mountain biking, visit the typical shepherd houses, see the church of Santa Maria. In Winter, Velika Planina is a perfect place for snow lovers: skiing, sledge-runs, cross-country skiing, snowshoes walks  ... But we were in the autumn: at first the sky was overcast, but when we started climbing, fog broke out so we could barely see 10 meters far which made it easy to get lost. But going with these two experts, there was no problem. After an hour and a half we saw the houses of shepherds and arrived at the church of Santa Maria. All was quiet, silence, harmony ... The tiredness and the cold was coming over us, so we went to eat at Jarški Dom. As we were cold, we drank dušica (a traditional herbs liqueur) and the soup obara with žganci, so pretty quickly we were warm again. Finally we tried the traditional dessert štruklji. Everything was delicious. We were in heaven. On the way back the fog lifted and we could clearly see the traditional houses of the shepherds and the nearby Alpine peaks, such as Grintavec (2.558m).

In the evening we had dinner at the International Center Picnic "Pri Jurju" where we enjoyed a traditional Slovenian dinner and we talked animatedly to Marjan, the owner. And to finish the day, I stayed at the hotel Pri Orlu, a cute hotel, where in every detail there is a good taste.

I want to thank all the people I’ve met on Sunday, but especially Maja. Thanks for all and we are meeting soon!

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!

New blogger starting his Slovenian journey

In August, you could follow the adventures of Adam McRae, winner of StormIt Challenge Give me three days of GREEN sLOVEnia. We would like to thank Adam for his excellent writing and reporting and of course please, do all follow his advice: Go to Slovenia.

From Canada to Spain. Tomorrow, Bank of Tourism Potentials in Slovenia team will be joined by a young Spanish entrepreneur Juan Lopez, 28, who will visit Slovenia as part of EU business exchange programme Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs. Juan will stay in Slovenia for two months during which he will be discovering the country not only from the tourist point of view but mainly from a business point of view. His long-term goal is to open own tourist agency in Spain and Bank of Tourism Potentials will help him meet as many tourist workers, professionals, agency owners, volunteers, managers and other key tourism players as possible.

Same as Adam, Juan will report on all the activities in our blog so do not forget to tune in on regular basis for the next two months! And of course, shall you wish to meet and greet Juan and host him in your organisation, do not hesitate to contact us at info@btps.si!