Mountain village Luče committed to sustainable tourism...

The mountain village of Luče is committed to sustainable tourism to preserve this treasure for future generations.



The Municipality of Luče, as the second Slovenian member after Jezersko, is joining the network of Mountain Villages, which unites alpine localities that develop their tourism based on mountaineering tradition, primarily basic mountaineering activities, without large tourist infrastructure and with a sustainable approach, which the people of Luče see as a long-term competitive advantage of their area. The ceremony marking the entry into the prestigious international family will take place in Luče on Saturday, September 28, and two days earlier, in the Vlcerska bajta in the open-air museum, they presented the advantages and challenges of the adopted sustainable development strategy.







Mountain Villages (Bergsteigerdörfer) are aware of the need for harmony between nature and humans, where humans respect nature's capacities, so their motto is: less and therefore better. In this way, they specifically fulfill the goals of the Alpine Convention, which aims for sustainable development throughout the alpine area, and the project is led by the mountaineering associations of Austria, Germany, South Tyrol, Italy, and Slovenia, where the national coordinator is the Alpine Association of Slovenia. The basis of sustainable tourism is movement in the mountains based on one's own power and without large technical infrastructure, with a responsible attitude towards nature and respect for the cultural and natural heritage of the place. The conditions for joining the Mountain Villages network are that the place has fewer than 2500 inhabitants, that there is at least a thousand meters of elevation difference between the lowest and highest point, and that there is no large tourist infrastructure and hotel complexes.







"Tourism development in the Alps has reached dimensions in recent decades that in many ways exceed the environment's capacity to bear it without consequences. With the Mountain Villages project, the mountaineering associations of Austria, Germany, South Tyrol, Slovenia, and Italy are joining the guidelines for implementing the Alpine Convention and want to encourage localities that meet the required criteria to direct their natural assets, mountaineering and hiking tradition, and cultural heritage into development that will take all these activities into account and attract guests who are willing to visit the mountain landscape and engage in sports and other activities there based on their own abilities, strength, and knowledge, and with a responsible attitude towards nature, who will respect the local population, its tradition, and culture," explained Miro Eržen, Vice-President of the Alpine Association of Slovenia: "At the same time, through the implementation of the project, we see an opportunity for these places to increase the interest of young generations in seeing their future life and business path in their home area through the offer of local products, provision of services, and other business opportunities."











Today, the Mountain Villages network includes 20 localities in Austria, four in Bavaria, two in South Tyrol, and one more in the rest of Italy, while in Slovenia, in addition to Jezersko, Luče is now joining, which means continuity in their development, as emphasized by the Mayor of the Municipality of Luče, Ciril Rosc: "We want to protect this treasure, this nest in the midst of mountains that we inherited from our ancestors who always lived in harmony with nature, its features, and potentials, and thus preserve it in all its beauty also for the current generation. Similar ideals, goals, ways of thinking, and acting connect us with other places in the alpine area that are already in this association. With an attractive tourist offer and commitment to preserving local cultural and natural values, we want to add another piece to the wonderful mosaic of small and beautiful mountain villages for enjoyment and stay, where originality, tradition, and culture are most important, as well as commitment to sustainable alpine tourism. The determination to carry out development efforts taking sustainable development into account is seen long-term as a competitive advantage of our area."







The Municipality of Luče, almost half of which is covered by the Natura 2000 protected area, is located in the eastern part of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, its center is the village of Luče, nestled on a river terrace above the confluence of the Savinja and Lučnica rivers, surrounded by small settlements and solitary farms. "Luče is surrounded by mountains. On each side of the sky, they are guarded by Raduha, Ojstrica, and Rogatec. For mountain visitors, the beauty of the plain and hills is not enough; they also desire sheer walls, mountain peaks, and epic views. The intervening valleys along the Savinja, Lučnica, and Lučka Bela are also picturesque. Not to mention the Snežna Cave in the heart of Raduha, Igla, the Disappearing Spring, several interesting waterfalls, karst caves, mountain huts, mountain chapels. The local cuisine is recognizable, folk male singing on treko and štrto is unique in all of Europe, as well as numerous cultural attractions, walking paths, hiking, climbing, and mountain biking tours, ski touring, ice climbing in frozen waterfalls, skiing, and sledding. With joining the mountain villages, we seek the opportunity to offer visitors the beauties of this mountain world, which our ancestors and the current generation have preserved for future generations," was the vivid description by Mayor Rosc of Luče.







Mountaineering in Luče has a rich tradition, and Johannes Frischauf and Fran Kocbek hold a special place in mountaineering history, as they contributed to the construction of mountain huts in the Dleskovec and Raduha massifs, with which mountaineering tourism began to develop in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. The Tourist Club Skala was responsible for its further expansion; in 1953, the Mountaineering Association Luče - Solčava was established, three years later they became an independent association, and Luče mountaineers have since been closely connected to the Koča na Loki hut under Raduha. "Our goals in this part of the Alps are related to the maintenance of mountain trails in the Raduha and Rogatec massifs, which we Luče mountaineers take care of, and certainly members of the Celje mountaineering association, who maintain trails in the Dleskovska Plateau, have similar goals. We will continue to strive for the mountain huts to be properly maintained, to have caretakers with whom the association cooperates well, and for all our mountaineers and other visitors to be satisfied. We believe that the entry of our municipality into the mountain villages means even closer cooperation among us, we will certainly seek higher common goals that will satisfy both visitors and locals. In harmony with nature, we want to offer all visitors everything a true mountaineer needs today: peace, a pristine natural environment, safe trails, and quality cuisine," presented the mountaineering challenges Bojan Germelj, member of the management board and guide of the Mountaineering Association Luče.







Not only mountaineering, but also other activities in nature - especially nature itself - are a magnet for visitors to mountain villages. "Both guests we guide through the agency and hunters I guide as a professional hunter admire the pristine nature, preservation, and cleanliness of our area and mountains, and most of all, they admire that there is no mass tourism here. We strive for visitors to authentically experience our area and enjoy the attractions enabled by natural heritage, so as a member of the project team, I will continue to advocate for preserving our environment and nature," highlighted Boštjan Pahovnik, member of the Mountain Villages project team in Luče and director of the Dolina avantur sports agency, who is aware that the tourist offer needs to be adapted to the new type of visitors: "Regarding activities, the offer does not need to be changed, as visitors who crave active holidays in nature already come to us, which we already offer. A welcome addition would be a via ferrata, which we have been striving for for some time. We will advocate for mountain and hiking guides to join our staff to meet the new type of visitors. However, the offer of accommodations, apartments, farm tourism, and caterers needs to be adapted so that they provide mountaineers, for example, breakfast, so they can fuel up well before heading out."







The Mountain Villages project is supported by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the RS, which is responsible for implementing the Alpine Convention in Slovenia, and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of the RS. Most Slovenian municipalities see tourism as an opportunity for development, but often there is too little consideration of what type of tourism it makes sense to develop to appropriately support local development without bringing unwanted burdens to the space and population, warned Blanka Bartol from the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, head of the Slovenian delegation to the Standing Committee of the Alpine Convention: "Tourism of small steps, limited growth, with emphasis on soft mobility, balancing the needs of guests and locals, active preservation of environmental and cultural resources, alternative linking of different sectors, e.g., tourism and agriculture, shaping tourist offers in the form of regional brands, cooperation of different sectors, etc., are elements that lead to more sustainable tourism. Some areas in the alpine space have already gone this way, and sustainable tourism is also the basic guideline of the mountain villages, into which Jezersko and Luče are now included. I am convinced that they will be an example to others in this field."







Journalists had the opportunity to feel the mountain pulse of Luče on a sunny autumn morning while gazing at the broad Raduha, and to learn about the ethnographic heritage in the open-air museum in Luče, where the Koklej homestead also provided a culinary experience with upper Savinja acorn cheese, ham, skuta spread mohovt, apple slices - platichki, homemade rolls, young cheeses, mint juice, and must.







The official accession ceremony for the Municipality of Luče joining the mountain villages will be on Saturday, September 28, 2019, in the Cultural Hall of Luče.