24. 1. 2011
The end of January is already traditionally reserved for tourism at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. Following a 30-year development of this type of an event, the destination and programme updated Alpe-Adria: Tourism and Leisure Show presents itself between the 27 and 30 January. As implied by the name, in addition to distant foreign destinations, the event includes also the offer of the Alps-Adriatic region; in terms of the content, the Show is designed from the viewpoint of the visitor, i.e. by tourist products. The Boat Show taking place at the same time, the first such event in this calendar year, presents boats up to 10 m in length, additional nautical equipment and services.
This year, over an area of 9,000 square metres of exhibition spaces, 332 providers of tourist services and 20 nautical companies present themselves. Participants from the Alps-Adriatic region include Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy), Hungary (Vas), Croatia and Slovenia; foreign destinations include the countries of former Yugoslavia, Turkey and Spain. All important domestic tourist industry protagonists are participating as part of the Slovenian exhibitors; these include the Slovenian Tourist Board and Tourist Association of Slovenia as partners of the Show, Tourism Ljubljana and various local associations, which will make sure that the Show will be a lively, varied, green, tasty and entertaining event.
The exhibition of Sejalec (Sower) and Snovalec (Creator) award recipients from the year 2004 up to 2010 offers an overview of awards for creative and innovative achievements in tourism for greater visibility of the tourist offer of Slovenia. Considerable interest will also be raised by the exhibition Picture Slovenia, which marks the 20th anniversary of Slovenian independence this year. The Dolenjska, Bela Krajina and Kočevsko-Ribniška region present itself in the role of a partner region of the Show. As evident from the programme, the Show brings together smaller local and larger actors, and many of them will take advantage of the Show for promotion of their own last and first minute offers.
The following important novelty of the Show is the organisation of the offer by tourist products. The exhibitors’ tourist offer at the Show is presented based on the 4 most recognisable categories of spending leisure time and holidays: holidays by destinations, active leisure, trips and travelling adventures. A marking system with special icons guides the visitors through the Show. The Association of Slovene Tourist Guides offers organised tours of the Show (and also Ljubljana) and expert advice.
Conceptual content initiative for the new conceptual design of the Show was welcomed by the honorary patrons of the Show, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana with the Mayor Zoran Janković as the honorary patron of the event, as also by the Working Community of the Alps-Adriatic region, which is establishing itself as a macro region within the European Union. Its Secretary General, Wolgang Platzer, MSc PhD, stated at this occasion: »Renaming of the Show is an important step in the joint promotion of the entire region. On the basis of the above, the representation of the participating members of the Alps-Adriatic group will be strengthened in the existing markets and they will also gain access to new markets.« The Show, with its destination breakthrough to the Alps-Adriatic region, a region with 26 million inhabitants on 180,603 square kilometres of surface area, enables connection of local, smaller tourist service providers and endeavours for the visibility not only within the region, but also on more remote markets.
Let us recall that the main actors of Slovenian tourism on 2 June 2010 at the presentation meeting at the City Hall of the Municipality of Ljubljana, welcomed the updated concept of the largest such event in the field of tourism in Slovenia and established an Expert Committee of the Show, which includes 33 members and is presided over by Janez Bogataj, PhD. One of the incentives of the Board is the international Jakob Prize, which the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre awards this year for the first time for excellence and quality in tourism, this year in the field of gastronomy. According to Janez Bogataj, PhD, the Jakob prize, named after the first tourist, i.e. the “pre-tourist” – pilgrim St. Jacob, is “an encouragement and a motive to all those, in one way or another, involved in tourism; for tourists, the prize will provide a signpost for quality in the various fields of tourist services and for the tourist way of life in general”. On 20 January, the jury, which, in addition to the President, consists of Jožko Sirk, innkeeper and recipient of a Michelin star from the neighbouring Italy, Denis Ivošević, representative of Croatia, and Lojze Wieser, publisher and culinary expert from Austria, inspected the applications of various applicants, who innovatively include local and/or regional gastronomy in the tourist offer of places and areas in the Alps-Adriatic region, and selected a winner. The prize recipient will be presented to the general public at the prize ceremony on 27 January at 7:00 pm at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The Show is complemented also by the tourism marketing conference Travel Zoom, organised by the Faculty of Tourism Studies Turistica in cooperation with the company GO.MICE and numerous partners. 150 participants from Slovenian tourist companies, press, and science and research institutions are expected to attend. TRAVEL ZOOM is the answer to the challenges and requirements of tourist service providers. The topics and lecturers are selected on the basis of an analysis of needs of these companies. Lecturers will provide participants with answers to questions such as how to strengthen trademarks, increase the visibility of the company and ensure financial success in 2011. The Conference is based on comprehensive educational topics and actual domestic and foreign case studies. Marjan Hribar, MSc, Director of Directorate of Tourism and Aleksandra Brezovec, Assist. Prof. PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism Studies Portorož, Turistica, will officially open the Conference. Entry is free of charge for accredited press representatives.
Within the framework of the Show, two additional tourist industry oriented meetings will take place. The first and the second day, the Show will be visited by the FIJET travel journalists of the Alps-Adriatic region. Representatives of the press are invited to join them on 27 January at 10:00 am for the presentation of examples of good practice of cross border cooperation in the field of tourism in the region. The regional meeting of guides is organised also by the Association of Slovene Tourist Guides.
Official opening of the Show will take place on 27 January at 12 noon, which will be followed by a guided tour and a reception in the exhibition space of Dolenjska, Bela Krajina and Kočevska-Ribniška, regional partners of the Show.
www.alpeadria-tourismshow.com
www.salonplovil.si