In October already over million overnight stays were recorded in Ljubljana. The estimate for all accommodation facilities in Ljubljana for the ten months is 1,057,713 overnight stays, which is 19% more than in the same period last year.

The increase of visitors confirms that Ljubljana remains a desired destination to which people also like to return. This year over one million overnight stays were achieved already in October, whereas last year this threshold was crossed in December. Namely, in the twelve months in 2014 there were 1,021,929 overnight stays recorded, and in the ten months of this year this number has already been exceeded by 35,700.

The Ljubljana Tourism is expecting a further increase in overnight stays up to the end of the year, as this year’s festivities start one week earlier than in the previous years and, in addition to this, Ljubljana is known to be one of European capitals with most beautiful festive decorations. Taking into comparison the data from 2014, approximately 123,000 visitors in total stayed overnight during the last two months of the year.

In addition to the constant upgrade of services offered and the reconstruction of the city centre with limited access to motor vehicles, the Ljubljana Tourism attributes the increase of visitors to the many years of systematic promotion in foreign markets supported by animation and promotional material in target languages, cooperation with international organisations as well as numerous international awards and titles received, the most topical being the prestigious title European Green Capital 2016.

This year Ljubljana as the European Green Capital 2016, its culinary delights, diverse cultural events and characteristics were presented in different markets. In January in Istanbul, Helsinki, Madrid, Utrecht and Vienna; in February in Brussels, Tel Aviv, Milano, Munich, Belgrade, Prague and Budapest. In March they were presented at fairs in Berlin and Moscow, and in workshops in Milano and Vienna, in April at a fair in Baku and in workshops in Stockholm and Sao Paulo, in May in Zagreb, and in London at a June fair and a November trade show. In September the capital was presented at a culinary festival in Brussels as well as in a workshop in Taipei and a trade show in Tokyo.

This year Ljubljana as a congress tourism destination participated in trade shows in Frankfurt, Istanbul, London and Barcelona as well as in workshops in Paris, Zürich, Stockholm, Munich, Warsaw and Prague, in addition to Amsterdam and Brussels.

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) invited Ljubljana Tourism to X’ian, China, as a result of its award winning social media activities that have been noticed in European and wider circles. The Foundation for European Sustainable Tourism (FEST) in cooperation with the European Travel Commission (ETC) invited Ljubljana Tourism to hold a lecture on the topic of most successful sustainable practices in the world at the June »Summer School in Leadership and Governance for Sustainable Tourism«. With its presentation at the Green Destination Community event held within the scope of the world’s biggest tourism and travel trade show in Berlin, Ljubljana has been put on the world map of sustainable destinations and its representative has been elected into the highest body of the Green Destinations organisation.

Destination promotion was supported by the half-year long presence at the Expo 2015 in Milano where, in addition to the regular promotion of Ljubljana and the region, two active promotion program blocks, jointly lasting 18 days, were presented in the Slovenian pavilion.