A Slovenian evening - "Serata Slovena" – took place in Milan on Monday 13 February 2012 with the award of prizes to Italian media and journalists for contributions to the recognition of Slovenian tourism in Italy.

The gala event, organised in partnership between the Slovenian Tourist Board and the City of Ljubljana with a rich cultural programme and Slovenian cuisine prepared by Chef Janez Bratovž, was attended by more than 100 selected Italian media representatives. The award winners included three journalists, a photographer and a media outlet.

Attendees at the Slovenian evening, a centrepiece of which was a showcase of Ljubljana, were entertained by and relaxed to the music of Sounds of Slovenia and the Picture Slovenia photographic project, and the presentation was rounded off by a fashion show featuring Idrija lace.

The City of Ljubljana was represented by Dr Uroš Grilc, Head of its Culture Department at a press conference and the gala evening. His keynote address included an invitation to the gathered Italian journalists to visit Ljubljana, a city of art and culture, with which you fall in love at first sight, giving rise to the expression in Slovene ‘Ljubljana ljubljena’ or ‘beloved Ljubljana’.

The Ljubljana Tourism public institute chose to be a partner in the event as it identified the main event with Italian journalists as an excellent opportunity for the Italian public to get to know Ljubljana’s merits as a tourist destination for a short city break, its proximity and a chance to showcase news to those that return to Ljubljana on a regular basis.

Barbara Vajda, the director of Ljubljana Tourism said at the event “Italian journalists are an important target group that we would like to attract to Ljubljana as much as possible. Last year, Ljubljana was visited by 272 foreign journalists – individuals or foreign media outlet teams, but surprisingly there were not that many from Italy. As Italians have been in first place in terms of visitor numbers and overnights for years, we are aware of the importance of maintaining relationships”.