Tourist Challenges for Safer Visiting of Slovenian Mountains...

Tourist Challenges for Safer Visiting of Slovenian Mountains.



Slovenian mountains are visited by more and more people, the proportion of foreigners, mostly tourists, is also increasing, as well as visitors with insufficient prior knowledge, poor equipment, and a lack of awareness that the Slovenian alpine world is demanding and requires an excellently prepared individual with experience and knowledge of equipment use, consequently, there are also more interventions by mountain rescuers. The Mountaineering Association of Slovenia (PZS) on January 30, 2020, at the Alpe-Adria fair in Ljubljana, together with leading organizations in the field of mountaineering activities and tourism, highlighted this issue and indicated guidelines for actual actions for safer mountain visits.







More and more people are going to the mountains, mountaineering or hiking is experiencing an exceptional rise. Hiking is one of the flagship tourist products in the so-called alpine Slovenia, every known and developed or lesser-known destination invites visitors and tourists and offers mountaineering or hiking experiences, with targeted tourist promotion and development of hiking as a tourist product, we are witnessing a boom in invitations to the mountains also on social networks, emphasized Martin Šolar, vice president of the Mountaineering Association of Slovenia, and warned: "For a long time, only skilled and well-equipped mountaineers have not been going to the mountains, but in general, everyone goes to the mountains. In the mountaineering association, we record a growth of inappropriately equipped and poorly prepared mountain visitors, there are more and more interventions by the mountain rescue service. At the same time, we also notice that visitors expect that mountain huts will always be open, that every meter of the mountain path will be secured, and similar. We want to highlight the issue also from the perspective of tourism and rescue and set guidelines and actual actions with the common goal of improving prior knowledge and preparation for visiting especially mid-mountains and high mountains."







Slovenian mountains are visited annually by 1.7 million visitors, and Slovenia is crisscrossed by a very dense network of 10,000 kilometers of marked mountain paths, cared for by more than 800 volunteers, PZS markers. Mountain paths are mostly very well marked and, where necessary, also equipped with safety devices. According to technical difficulty, they are divided into three groups - easy, demanding, and very demanding. "On an easy mountain path, you don't need to help yourself with your hands while walking, and it is wide enough on steep slopes to allow safe walking even for less trained individuals. However, even on an easy path, caution, appropriate physical fitness, and suitable footwear are necessary. Mountaineers are mostly aware of this, but tourists who venture into the mountain world for the first time and are often insufficiently informed about the length and difficulty of the paths quickly get into trouble. On directional signs at starting points and path intersections, the difficulty of the path is marked with logos, and for better information of mountain visitors, additional warning signs will need to be installed in some places," realizes the president of the Mountaineering Association of Slovenia Jože Rovan.







Slovenian mountain rescuers have witnessed an increasing number of rescue interventions in recent years. "In the last five years, the number of our interventions has increased by 40 percent. One of the reasons is the increasing development of tourism. The frequency of mountain rescuers' interventions has increased especially in tourist-visited areas at the foot of the Julian and Kamnik-Savinja Alps. The reasons for seeking our help are mainly insufficient information, ignorance and even underestimation of the mountain world, physical and mental unpreparedness for surprises offered by the mountain world," highlighted the issue Gabrijel Rožič, member of the GRZS Information and Analysis Commission, and the president of the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia Janez Rozman added that "to reduce the frequency of accidents, a lot of cooperation will be needed between providers of tourist destinations and entities in the field of mountaineering activities. At the local level, more cooperation is needed between experts of the mountain world and those who receive the guest and provide them with the first information. This is mainly about promoting easier goals, knowing them, and cooperating with the guiding service." To calm down and reduce the number of interventions, mountain rescuers organize trainings for safe movement in the mountain world, warn about conditions in the mountains through the media, and in cooperation with local tourist providers prepare activities for warning and informing mountain visitors.







The Mountaineering Association of Slovenia as the umbrella organization in the field of mountaineering also strives for dispersing visits and cares for preventive programs and contents. It intensively presents them both to the internal mountaineering public, i.e., members and representatives of mountaineering clubs, as well as to the wider public, i.e., domestic and foreign mountain visitors. PZS representatives are regularly present in the media, recently particularly resonant are press conferences in the field with practical presentation of skills that mountain world visitors must master. "But last year we found that we need to supplement communication. Due to the increasing, especially tourist visits to the mountains, we started to communicate the difficulty of mountain paths more precisely. Easy mountain paths are easy according to mountaineering classification, but for someone who has no experience with mountaineering, this path can be physically very demanding. We also saw that our information does not reach these visitors through classic channels, so we started to cooperate more intensively with tourist organizations and providers of tourist products," explained the general secretary of PZS Matej Planko.







Planko also presented the most important steps and goals of PZS in this direction: "The Slovenian alpine world is demanding and requires an excellently prepared individual with experience and knowledge of equipment use, so last year at the beginning of summer, in cooperation with GRZS, we prepared a leaflet with tips for safer summer mountain visits in Slovenian and English. Good mountain maps and guides issued by PZS also contribute to increasing safety. Our maps certainly have the most accurate data, so we want tourist providers to recognize this and give priority to quality over appearance. Last year, we already installed special laminated maps in the more visited huts of the Julian and Kamnik-Savinja Alps, and we will gradually equip other mountain huts with them. Due to the increasing interest of foreigners in the Slovenian Mountain Trail, we issued a guide in English Slovenian Mountain Trail, which presents the entire trail by daily stages, with added tips for safer mountain visits. It is important that information reaches foreigners before they come to Slovenia, so that they are aware of the demanding nature of the mountain world in Slovenia already when planning their vacation, so our goal is that recommendations for safe mountain visits find a place in all presentation and promotional materials of tourist providers."







Mountain municipalities in 2019 recorded the largest share of overnight stays among all types of municipalities with 30 percent and annually record above-average growth. In the first eleven months of 2019, according to SURS data, they were visited by 6.4 percent more guests or seven percent more foreign guests than in the same period in 2018, explained Nataša Hočevar, head of the sector for research, development, innovation, and European projects at the Slovenian Tourist Board. "As a society, we must become more responsible towards nature, culture, and fellow people. A mountaineer must be aware from the choice of the adventure point, equipment, to the mountaineering experience itself, the best view for photography, to sharing the experience, that he is responsible for his actions and that a post on social networks can have a great effect on a certain hiking path or micro-location, which typically does not withstand large visits. Especially Slovenians must be an example to foreign guests as a mountaineering nation," she highlighted and announced this year's campaign: "With the aim of influencing the responsible behavior of foreign guests, who in connection with boutique Slovenia highlight hiking, nature, and wonderful views of our mountains, we at the Slovenian Tourist Board will carry out a small campaign on the topic of safe walking in the mountains on social networks before the summer season upon launching the new Outdoor Slovenia portal in cooperation with partners."







The importance of responsible tourism is emphasized by Klemen Langus, director of Bohinj Tourism and coordinator of the Julian Alps community, as responsibility lies with those who create the tourist offer. In Bohinj, in the light of warning and encouraging safety in the mountains, in cooperation with Triglav National Park (TNP), GRS Bohinj, and Alpina, they made a special shoe and thus also showed what they expect from guests. "In all promotional and other activities in recent years, we communicate safety in the hills, we prepare contents together with GRS Bohinj, both mountaineering clubs, and TNP. We try to inform both guests and visitors as well as tourism providers - what mountaineering means, not only its historical significance, but that it is necessary to form the correct attitude towards hills and experiencing mountains, which we showed at the celebration of the 240th anniversary of the first ascent of Triglav. An example of good practice, in which we also cooperate with Posočje, is the well-received hiking trail Juliana Trail, the purpose of which is to further connect and long-term change the attitude towards the Triglav range, Triglav as a symbol, Triglav National Park, in general towards respecting mountains," said Langus and listed the challenges that still await them: encouraging guiding in the mountains, informing, coordinated and professional promotion, interpretation of paths and their difficulties, directing visits, and caution in planning events.







Due to historical facts, Triglav has become a Slovenian national symbol and therefore appears in all foreign guides about Slovenia among the top five things you must visit, observes mountain guide Mitja Šorn, president of the Association of Mountain Guides of Slovenia: "Because Triglav has a modest height for the Alps, many visitors think that the ascent to it will be easy, which it is not for a beginner at all. Mountains in Slovenia are the Alps, which means that the paths on them are alpine. For someone who has so far only moved on asphalt and parks, even the path from Krma to Kredarica, which is otherwise classified as an easy mountain path, can represent an extremely difficult challenge, and the very demanding secured mountain path to the top is too exposed for many. Slovenian tourism workers can do this by stopping describing our paths, even if only to mountain huts, as easy. An easy mountain path is actually easy for someone who is used to moving in the mountain world. For someone who finds himself there for the first time, because he read in Lonely Planet that he really must, such a path can be devilishly demanding, for many even too demanding."







The consultation was also attended by the state secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Eva Štravs Podlogar, who highlighted that within the strategic vision of Slovenian tourism, we recognize Slovenia as a global green boutique destination for demanding visitors seeking diverse and active experiences, peace, and personal benefits. In this, mountain tourism is increasingly growing, as it provides a diverse offer of active experiences in nature. Holidays in the mountains and "outdoor" are considered one of the key tourist products also in the promotion of the country and development of Slovenian tourism, defined in the Strategy for Sustainable Growth of Slovenian Tourism 2017-2021. Green, sustainable, and responsible development is the foundation of Slovenian tourism, so solutions for reducing tourist overcrowding must be sought in the direction of implementing measures for infrastructure development, introducing possible entrance fees, and raising awareness among tourists, which is especially important from the perspective of considering, respecting, and preserving nature, with emphasis on Natura 2000 areas and Triglav National Park. "Respect for nature is the first step to safety," she emphasized.