Slovenia top100 sustainable destination green story

From the Alps to the Adriatic Sea: a glorious environmental and cultural heritage that Slovenia is determined to protect and enhance for communities, coming generations and visitors. Enter the green story of Slovenia, the first Green Destinations country.

Slovenia simply has everything. From the Alps to the Adriatic this small and industrious country has a heritage second to none. Its beautiful historic cities are full of great architecture art and music, its towns and villages a delight. Over half of the country is covered with forests, there are nearly 1000 square kilometres of farms over 360 square kilometres of orchards and even over 210 square kilometres of vineyards.

The nation’s capital Ljubljana – European Green Capital 2016 is one of Europe’s jewels  – a lovely well-kept walkable city replete with art and architecture and a historic well-preserved atmospheric city centre along the Ljubljanica River. The hills around Slovenia’s second-largest town, Maribor, (European Capital of Culture 2012), are renowned for their wine-making. The northeastern part of the country is rich with spas.

The Julian Alps has the renowned Lake Bled, as well as the nation’s highest peak, Mount Triglav in the middle of Triglav National Park. Other mountain ranges include Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Karavanke and Pohorje, popular with both skiers and hikers

So, Slovenia has great food and wine, forests, beaches and mountains to play in and a fascinating historical architectural cultural heritage to enjoy!

Enter the green story of Slovenia! Slovenia is a country with green stories. It is surrounded by greenery wherever you look – towards the Alpine peaks, the green forests, the Adriatic Sea, the mysterious Karst, the vineyards, or the Pannonian Plain. All of these different landscapes are connected through the bond of green love.

This is Slovenia’s love for nature and the effort it makes to conserve it, the love for green towns and the pride that it takes in its culture. In Slovenia, they breathe fresh air and enjoy therapeutic water. They have green hearts. The natural environment in which they live is of utmost importance to them. They are guided by a green mentality. We must do everything to conserve our unspoiled nature and the wealth of our cultural heritage. Will you help them?

Listen to the green stories of Slovenia. Allow them to inspire you to experience the most beautiful green adventures first hand. They will remind you that the bond between people and pristine nature and the traditions of our forebears are magical and therapeutic

It’s no wonder that the country is determined to protect and enhance this rich legacy for communities and future generations – tourism is a natural way to help this process.

Slovenia is naturally committed root and branch to green tourism. What do they think about it?

"The Slovenian Tourist Board defined the focus on green, sustainable tourism as the right development opportunity for our country and its range of tourism products, while placing the integral implementation of sustainability at the very heart of its operations, namely the development and promotion of Slovenian tourism."

"The appealing competitively positioned range of tourism products based on the concept of sustainability and the development of high-quality and innovative tourism products with added value represents the key element of our competitiveness, which makes our country and its offer for tourists stand out from other tourist destinations."

This means that visitors can enjoy visits replete with fresh local food and wine, delicious culinary specialities, superb warm hospitality and the opportunities to enjoy delightful authentic natural experiences – and contribute sustainably to the nation’s economy and well-being.

Moreover "The Slovenian Tourist Board has pledged itself to sustainable development with the national strategic guideline and, in doing so, has taken an important step towards the better sustainable development of the entire country. Tourism service providers and destinations are switching to sustainable, i.e. green, development."

Slovenia has taken this all very seriously – do all this the tourist board has set up SLOVENIA GREEN – a certification programme and quality mark used to indicate destinations’ compliance with requirements defined by the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism (GSST). SLOVENIA GREEN is used to communicate the efforts of the GSST and, most importantly, to promote green destinations and service providers. The brand can only be used by destinations and service providers who have joined the GSST and fulfil the requirements of obtaining the label.

23 destinations now have gone through a rigorous certification process and have Slovenia Green Destination certificates, 16 accommodation providers now have Slovenia Green Accommodation certificate, 2 agencies have Slovenia Green Travel Agency certificate and 3 parks have Slovenia Green Parks certificate.

In Slovenia, they promote tourism that is friendly to the environment, visitors, and local people.

Which are the greenest Slovenian destinations and tourism providers? Check the list below and enrich your getaway by making it green!

Slovenia Green Destination Gold labels have been achieved by: Ljubljana  and Podcetrtek

Slovenia Green Destination Silver labels Kamnik, Idrija , Rogla – Zrece,  Radlje ob Dravi  , Cerkno, Nova Gorica  , Maribor , Brda, Kranjska Gora, Ptuj,  Slovenj Gradec,Bela krajina , Vipavska dolina, Logarska dolina Solcavsko

 And Slovenia Green Destination Bronze labels to Laško  , Zalec  , Celje  , Velenje , Kocevsko , Polhov Gradec and  Ljutomer

Visitors are already enjoying holidays in Slovenia enhanced by green tourism initiatives – they’ll come back and bring their friends to see how fulfilling such experiences are!

Read more about Slovenia here http://www.slovenia.info/sloveniagreen

Slovenia Green Destinations has been awarded Top100 Sustainable Destinations label.