STA, 7 March 2019 - Ljubljana, the lakeside resort Bled and several other Slovenian towns included in the Slovenia Green scheme have been awarded at ITB Berlin, one of the world's largest and most prominent tourism trade fairs.
Ljubljana won in the category Best in Cities with its campaign promoting local food production entitled the Exchange of Local Foods.
The first meeting of producers and potential buyers of food from Ljubljana and central Slovenia was held in February and attracted more than 80 food producers, representatives of schools and kindergartens, hotels and restaurants.
"Locally produced ingredients are a trend in modern cuisine that is becoming an increasingly important element of Ljubljana's tourism, so we plan to continue with the Exchange of Local Foods ..." said Petra Stušek, the head of Turizem Ljubljana.
We just kicked off @ITB_Berlin 2019 with 35 Slovenian tourism partners ?
— Feel Slovenia? (@SloveniaInfo) March 6, 2019
?Visit us at Stand 109, Hall 17 and explore the culture and beauty of your favorite destination!
?https://t.co/F1OMIiM4TQ#ITBBerlin #ifeelslovenia #myway #itsculturetime pic.twitter.com/QoPz2zzcrY
Bled received the second prize in the category Best in Europe, which Tomaž Rogelj of Turizem Bled sees as a reward for the town's efforts in environment protection. It is also an encouragement for new measures promoting sustainable tourism, he said.
Meanwhile, Komen, Rogaška Slatina, Idrija, Koper and Podčetrtek were among the 25 finalists in the category for their efforts for responsible tourism, the Slovenian Tourism Board (STO) said after the accolades were handed out on Wednesday.
The Sustainable Top 100 Destinations awards are conferred by an NGO promoting sustainable tourism, Green Destinations, which declared Slovenia the first green country in the world in 2016.
Last year, Slovenia was among the top six most sustainable destinations in the world and the top in Europe.
A total of 64 destinations, service providers, parks and travel agencies in Slovenia are currently included in the Slovenia Green scheme and another 11 are to be included shortly, the STO said.
