STA, 22 May 2020 - Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Prime Minister Janez Janša pointed out that tourism was the mainstay of Slovenia's economy and announced that the season would kick off on 1 June. He assured that holidaying in Slovenia would be safe in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, adding the country strived for lifting border restrictions.
The BBC News show highlighted that Slovenia was the first country in Europe to declare the end of the coronavirus epidemic.
Slovenija je varna država in naredili bomo vse, da bodo tudi počitnice v Sloveniji popolnoma varne.@BBCWorld pic.twitter.com/l4FUyku79H
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) May 22, 2020
Janša told the show that Slovenia was striving to ensure all the tourism facilities would be safe. He pointed out that all the guests would be treated in line with public health guidelines.
To make sure that the country is a safe holiday destination, the coronavirus will have to be eradicated, he said, highlighting that in the past two weeks Slovenia recorded only one or zero cases of infection with coronavirus on a daily basis. The confirmed cases can be isolated, he added.
"The epidemic in Slovenia is now under total control," Janša said in a conversation which he shared on his Twitter on Friday.
"Slovenia will do everything that holidays in Slovenia will be totally safe," he highlighted, adding that safety measures will have to be heeded.
Almost 90% of tourism facilities which are available during normal times will be welcoming guests during the so-called new normality as well, he said, pointing out that nightclubs were still off-limits.
The prime minister confirmed that Slovenia was discussing with its neighbouring countries to lift the border restrictions on its internal EU borders in mid-June after deciding to lift almost all restrictions on the border with Croatia.
Slovenia is also closely monitoring the epidemiological status in the neighbouring countries; Italy could represent a risk, however the situation in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, the Italian region closest to the border with Slovenia, has been promising, according to Janša.
"I think that our region will be the first to lift the border restrictions which will especially help the touristic season to be safe as much as possible," he said and invited people to visit Slovenia. "Welcome to Slovenia, it's a safe country."
