The coronavirus epidemic has been reshaping our daily life for many months now. Despite all (initial) troubles and inconveniences, life is slowly returning back to normal, though some limitations and adaptations remain in place. Tourism is no exception to this rule. It appeared at first that the pandemic would bring all tourist activities to a standstill, however, the sector quickly showed high degree of flexibility. Nonetheless, the numerous consequences of the pandemic crisis are also showing in the tourist industry. Some of these consequences have already been outlined in the previous Newsletter. In this article I would like to point out some of the characteristics of the current situation in tourism in Slovenia and stress the added value of sustainable tourism under such circumstances.
As a tourist destination, Slovenia depended heavily on foreign guests in the previous years while their arrivals declined drastically in post-corona time. The Slovenian government decided to respond to crisis by promoting domestic tourism, primarily by introducing tourist vouchers. Every adult person with permanent residency in Slovenia is entitled to a voucher in the amount of € 200 to be spent on accommodation with breakfast offered by any tourism provider in Slovenia by the end of 2020. Data published by the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia in mid-July prove that the vouchers took off successfully and have given a boost to the domestic tourism. Already in the first month the Slovenians have redeemed around 150,000 vouchers in the total value of € 20.5 million, encouraging in this way additional spending in the tourist destinations. The redemption of tourist vouchers is expected to further increase significantly in the next months which represent the peak tourist season in Slovenia.
Regardless of the successfulness (or the lack thereof) of the voucher multiplier economic effect, which will doubtlessly be subject to ample analyses after the voucher validity expires, the »coronavirus pandemic period« has already unravelled the significance of sustainable tourism and the importance of developing less »besieged« tourist places. This is primarily connected with the present urge to avoid close contacts which is really hard to achieve in mass tourism destinations. What is the role of tourist vouchers or domestic tourism promotion we are witnessing now, in relation to sustainability goals? From the standpoint of sustainable tourism development, the tourist vouchers are a welcome novelty: due to short traveling distances, the domestic tourism is in fact less damaging to the environment. On the other hand, the analysis of voucher use after the first month has shown they are mainly redeemed in the well-known (and most exploited) tourist destinations. The bulk of the vouchers were redeemed at popular tourism destinations like Portorož, followed by Izola, Moravske Toplice, Kranjska Gora and Podčetrtek.
The development of sustainable tourism is not actually granted even in these post-coronavirus times, it rather urges tourism providers and other relevant operators to engage actively. It is fairly obvious that in the absence of alternatives tourists keep opting for the most popular destinations (in the majority of cases, anyway). Luckily, there are numerous interesting initiatives to pick from. In the western part of Slovenia visitors can benefit from a free of charge bus ride from Koper to Štanjel with stops at Kozina, Lipica, Divača and Sežana, available every weekend from July 18, 2020, until October 4, 2020. This initiative is aiming at cyclists; the bus is namely equipped with a bicycle trailer. This transport option is one of the pilot activities of the Crossmoby project within Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014–2020 program. The main objective of the project is to promote a more sustainable mobility, in addition, this service is well suited to the new tourism guidelines because it diverts visitors from often crowded coastal resorts to less frequented area of Karst.
Under these new circumstances, projects such as Merlin CV whose main objective is the development of less known tourist destinations and development of sustainable tourism, are gaining in importance. Since the virus is not going away any time soon and safety measures will remain in force, these projects will probably become even more important.
Author: Matic Batič (Science and Research Centre Koper)
Operation co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund
