Slovenia has once again made the list of the world’s top green destinations awarded by Global Green Events in Rimini, Italy and Cascais, Portugal.

Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, and the thermal resort Podčetrtek are ranked on the list, together with the group Slovenia Green Destinations. Global Green Destinations Day and Greenfest strengthened the reputation of Slovenia as one of the leading countries in sustainable tourism.

Slovenia is proud of its unique national programme, Slovenia Green, for evaluating and improving the sustainability of its destinations and providers. A unique tool serves as a certification programme that brings together all the efforts directed towards sustainable development of tourism in Slovenia.

The Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism, which was in the spotlight in Italy and Portugal, as well as at the international tourism fair ITFM TOP RESA Paris, is managed by the Slovenian Tourist Board and runs in cooperation with a national accredited partner, the Factory of Sustainable Tourism GoodPlace, and an international partner, Green Destinations. The GSST covers two fundamental levels: destinations and tourism services providers. In the process of obtaining the Slovenia Green label, destinations are assessed according to the international standards of the Green Destinations Standard (GDS) and the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS), while service providers must obtain or present one of the six internationally recognised labels that are verified by Slovenia Green: Biohotels, the EU Ecolabel, Green Globe, Green Key, TourCert and/or Travelife.

Green, active and healthy Slovenia is one of the most densely forested and water-rich countries in Europe.
Travellers can discover one of the 23 Slovenia Green Destinations, one of the 14 Slovenia Green Services Providers, or one of the three Slovenia Green Parks, and organize a trip with Slovenia Green Travel Agencies.

The four characteristics of the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism:

• A comprehensive and developmental approach
• A national programme
• Internationally comparable
• Based on global criteria

A total of 76,163 visitors from the GCC visited the Slovenia in 2016, resulting in a 10 per cent increase compared to 2015 figures. Amongst those, the number from Saudi Arabia was the highest at 43,483 travelers, which was an increase of 11.5 per cent compared to the year before. Visitors from the UAE were the next highest, followed by visitors from Kuwait. - TradeArabia News Service