Sporočila za medije

Jun 4, 2010

Foundation of the Expert Committee of the Alpe-Adria: Tourism and Leisure Fair

On Wednesday, 2nd of June, at the presentation meeting at the Ljubljana Town Hall, the key actors of tourism in Slovenia unanimously welcomed the updated concept of the largest fair event in the field of tourism in Slovenia and founded the Expert Committee of the Alpe-Adria: Tourism and Leisure Fair. The Tourism and Leisure event, which took place annually at the end of January at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, with its ambition for greater visibility of its offer, segmented by individual products and the expectations of the visitors, is expanding over the Alpe-Adria region and is becoming its central tourist event.

The organizer of the updated event, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, will, together with its partners, strive to equally represent at the Fair all tourist destinations within the region, thus on the one side facilitating greater recognition of exhibitors via various marketing tools, and on the other, the visitors will be offered actual possibilities for spending their holidays and leisure time. The patronage of the Alpe-Adria: Tourism and Leisure has already been accepted by the City Municipality of Ljubljana with its Mayor, Zoran Janković, as the host of the above mentioned meeting, and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia. The Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, Bojan Albreht, President of the Board of Directors of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, and Barbara Vajda, Director of Tourism Ljubljana, emphasised the importance of the event for Ljubljana, its development and greater visibility on the tourist map as the host of the event. Zoran Janković also mentioned that the location of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre remains in the centre of the city, where another multipurpose hall and a parking facility are planned in the future. The Secretary of State from the Ministry of Economy, Darja Radić, MSc, among other things, said in her welcoming speech that the period of great investments into tourist facilities is behind us and now the tourism needs to be marketed, which is facilitated by the updated concept of the event, with which Slovenia is positioning itself on the map of important tourist events. She concluded: “I support the updated event Alpe-Adria: Tourism and Leisure without any hesitations.” In the debate, other participants of the meeting followed with similar thoughts.

Mar 2, 2010

Green Mission at the Home Fair

Today at 1:00 p.m., the doors of the 49th Home Fair officially opened. The Home Fair is the largest such event in Slovenia and also the Fair of the longest tradition at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. Under the common motto of Let’s build together!, 599 companies from 30 countries present themselves on approximately 20,000 square metres of exhibition surfaces. The event was officially opened by Zoran Janković, the Mayor of the city of Ljubljana, at the opening the new Green Mission prize was also awarded to the company Kovinoplastika Lož d.d. for the universal window sash Unisash Arx View.

In his speech, Zoran Janković made reference to the Fair’s motto Let’s build together! in the spirit of sustainable and environmentally friendly development and emphasised that the city of Ljubljana applied for the European Green Capital since it includes 50 percent of green areas. Already last year, the City Hall opened 25 hectares of new park, for this year another 20 are planned, among them a park with a playground next to Zupančičeva jama, i.e. behind the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. The City Hall has also approved the plans for a parking house with a large events hall in the immediate vicinity, which could considerably alleviate the problems of lack of space of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Friderik Knez, Head of the Department of Building Physics of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, spoke on behalf of the profession. He pointed out the importance of sustainable civil engineering, since this is primarily a concept of construction, which considers and respects nature and society; i.e., the energy efficiency of buildings. It is important to note with regards to the above that reconstruction of buildings offers incomparably greater potential of decreasing energy consumption when compared with new construction. Other issues to consider are renewable energy sources, impact of product or building on the environment during the time of its manufacture, impact of the product on environmental parameters and, last but not least, the impact of the product on society as such, also added Knez.

17 companies submitted applications for the Green Mission prize, which is awarded for an energy efficient and an environmentally friendly product by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in cooperation with the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia. The 4-member expert jury, under the leadership of its President, Friderik Knez, expert from the field of building physics, selected as the product, which is environmentally friendly throughout its entire lifecycle – from natural resources, manufacture and use of product to its decomposition, the Unisash Arx View window, manufactured by Kovinoplastika Lož d.d.

»This represents an entirely new concept of builders’ joinery, it is a universal window sash with optimised properties with regards to environmental requirements. The obvious properties, such as low heat transfer and high energy efficiency, go without saying. However, the Unisash Arx View concept represents also a concept of a larger clear opening than usual. In addition to increased exploitation of solar energy, this results also in increased natural lighting of interior and consequently less energy consumption for illumination of spaces. The concept also facilitates savings in terms of material and energy during the manufacture phase. In addition to the above - and this is very important - non-energy related technical properties, such as sound insulation and break-in protection, are also improved, while the design itself already plans for integration of elements for recovery of solar energy, i.e. PV modules and shades. The sash is designed to facilitate complete automation of the window, which is not longer a novelty today, more of a necessity. The final touch is added by design properties, among which the hidden fittings and the overall appearance of the window are emphasised.

The product as such includes the use of various materials: wood, PVC, aluminium, glass. Its special distinction is the option of various combinations of the window frame, constructed from various materials, with the use of the same window sash. It is a technologically highly complex product with high added value.

Unisash Arx View is also a product, the potential of which by far exceeds the Slovenian frameworks and for which we may anticipate that we will be proud to say internationally, that the first prototype was publically presented right here at the Home Fair 2010. The potential is indicated also by the fact that its development was co-financed by European funds, from the LIFE programme. The prize is certainly awarded to the right recipient,” also stated the jury’s explanation.

This year’s accompanying programme, prepared in cooperation among the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK and the Section of Slovenian manufacturers of prefabricated houses, this year especially emphasises the guidelines of sustainable civil construction. In the right wing of the foyer of Kupola hall (A), free counselling on the efficient use of energy and renewable energy resources is offered to visitors each day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. The importance of development of low-carbon technologies, new challenges in the field of energy efficient construction, promotion of wood construction from the viewpoint of sustainable development, etc. will be the subjects of talks given by lecturers operating within the framework of the Association on Wednesday, 3 March 2010.

The Fair is open from Tuesday, 2 March, to 6 March 2010, daily 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Sunday, 7 March 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

www.home-fair.si

Feb 24, 2010

Let's build together! - Home Fair 2010

49th International Home Fair, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (2 to 7 March 2010):

From Tuesday, 2 March, to Sunday, 7 March 2010, under the common motto of Let’s build together!, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre will open the doors of the already 49th International Home Fair, the largest event from the field of building construction in Slovenia. 599 companies from 30 countries present themselves on approximately 20,000 m2 of exhibition area. Since this year’s Fair includes even more exhibitors than last year, the exhibitors present themselves in all available halls of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, three additional temporary halls and on the external exhibition area. A rich accompanying programme prepared by the Building and Construction Institute ZRMK, the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia and the Section of Slovenian manufacturers of prefabricated houses, complements the Fair. The novelty of the event is the Green Mission prize, which will be awarded for the first time this year by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in cooperation with the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia, to an energy efficient and environmentally friendly product. Last year, 52,000 people visited the Fair; approximately the same number of visitors is expected this year.

CONTENT.
The Home Fair, one of the largest and well attended Fairs of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, is an international building construction fair, which showcases the offer of builders’ joinery, interior design products, design of home and its surroundings, heating and cooling equipment, materials and products for construction and products, which technically protect, upgrade or simply enliven homes.

As emphasised by Friderik Knez, BSc (Physics), Head of the Department of Building Physics of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute and the President of the special expert jury for the selection of the Green Mission prize, »The Home Fair reflects the contemporary trends from the field of building and construction, use of energy, energy systems, building technology and living in general. One of the distinctive components of these trends is also environmental awareness of the manufacturers, the builders and the users of buildings. These are the newly emphasised guidelines of sustainable construction. The concept of sustainable construction itself has been present in building construction by its content for a long time; however, it has been pushed to the background. In recent times, it is emerging with a great force, together with awareness that it is particularly the buildings and their equipment, which are the key factors of sustainable environment …”


EXHIBITION PROGRAMME BY HALLS.

• HALL A1/TOWN HALL – builders' joinery, garage doors, fence systems, security, stairs
• HALL A /KUPOLA – prefabricated houses, roof coverings, roof lights,
• FOYER HALL A – shades, insurance companies, publishing houses, lectures and consultations
• GALLERY HALL A – catering
• PASSAGEWAY A-A2 – catering
• HALL A2 /KOCKA– builders' joinery, antitheft secure doors
• HALL B/MARMORNA HALL – HVAC technology, bathrooms and bathroom fittings
• HALL B2/FOYER OF MARMORNA HALL – heating technology, furnaces, bathroom fittings
• HALL B BASEMENT/STEBRNA HALL – parquets, laminate flooring, HVAC technology, purification devices
• HALL B2 BASEMENT/POVODNI MOŽ- heating technology, tools, purification devices
• HALL C/STEKLENA HALL– building construction, roof coverings, façades, insulation technology, paints, varnishes, shades
• HALL D/FONTANA – building construction, roof coverings, façades, insulation technology, paints, varnishes, shades
• HALL E /JURČEK – presentation of the VILA BRAVUM group
• HALL F – furniture, beds and water beds, garden furniture, saunas and pools, carpets, domestic appliances, other
• EXTERNAL SPACE – fireplaces, furnaces, chimneys, cement products, builders' joinery, pools and pool technology, equipment for garden and home surroundings, landscaping tools, construction products and materials

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME.
A rich accompanying programme prepared in cooperation among the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK and the Section of Slovenian manufacturers of prefabricated houses, complements the exhibition section of the Fair. The programme targets all visitors, not only the expert public.

Building and Construction Institute ZRMK

The Home Fair offers free consulting for visitors on the subject of energy, every day from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the exhibition/consultation space of the Building and Construction Institute ZRMK, in the right wing of the Kupola hall (A) foyer, on the ground floor. Consultations are provided by energy consultants of the ENSVET project http://www.gi-zrmk.si/ensvet.htm (Contracting Authority: Ministry of Economy/Contractor: Building and Construction Institute ZRMK).
The activities of the Eco Fund, the Slovenian Environmental Public Fund, are presented, which are aimed at providing loans and subsidies for environmentally friendly investments of natural or legal persons.

At the same time, thematic lectures for the visitors given by experts will take place in the exhibition area of Building and Construction Institute ZRMK. The lecturers include energy consultants of the ENSVET project and experts from the Building and Construction Institute ZRMK, who work in the field of residential environment, building physics and energy in buildings and within the framework of the Quality Mark in Civil Engineering project.

In addition to shorter thematic lectures, an expert workshop is planned for Friday, 5 March, entitled: Energy efficient construction and reconstruction of buildings (energy performance inspections and certificates, green procurements, LCC analyses, subsidies), presentation of EU projects - ENFORCE, BUY SMART, TABULA.

The presentation of the project Quality Mark in Civil Engineering will also take place at the Home Fair. This is non-compulsory certification mark and a brand and service label. The label marks the best Slovenian building products and services. The main objective of the Quality Mark in Civil Engineering project is the promotion of highest quality products and services, increase of the quality of civil engineering in the Republic of Slovenia and provision of information and protection of clients/users. The project is presented at the Fair also via two lectures »Quality Mark in Civil Engineering – quality of products and services« and »Criteria for selection of energy efficient windows«.

At the Fair (Hall D-18), the company GRAS d.o.o., operating within the framework of ZRMK Holding d.d., presents its activities in the field of reconstruction works, execution engineering and manufacture of special construction materials.

Timetable of ZRMK lectures

Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia
in cooperation with the Slovenian Society for Wood Work and Slovenian Wood Work Association of Engineers and Technicians presents the accompanying programme entitled
Climate changes and ensuring energy independence of Europe. An opportunity for the development of the wood-processing sector!?
Wednesday, 3. 3. 2010, Urška Hall, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, Ljubljana
10:30-12:00 a.m.
• Ms. Erika Glasenčnik, PhD, (Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology)
Importance of development of low carbon technologies

• Ms. Marta Šabec Paradiž (Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology)
International cooperation in the field wood material science and engineering: WoodWisdom-Net

• Mr. Črtomir Tavzes, PhD, (iltra) and Mr. Franc Pohleven, PhD, (UL BF Department of Wood Technology)
Importance of connections among forestry, wood processing and energy exploitation of wood material for green public procurement
1:00-3:30 p.m.
• Mr. Mitja Piškur, MSc, (Slovenian Forestry Institute)
Significance of wood use from the viewpoint of the national co2 balance

• Ms. Marjana Šijanec, PhD, (GI ZRMK)
New challenges in the field of energy efficient building construction

• Ms. Manja Kitek Kuzman, PhD, (UL BF Department of Wood Technology)
Promotion of wood construction from the viewpoint of sustainable development

• Mr. Tadej Macura, MSc, (UL BF Department of Wood Technology)
Wooden houses: construction and energy economy

• Ms. Barbara Šubic, BSc (Civil Engineering), (M Sora)
Development of energy efficient windows at M Sora


PRIZES AND AWARDS.
The Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Slovenia and the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre present for the first time this year the Green Mission prize for an energy efficient and environmentally friendly product.

The 4-member expert jury, composed of:

• Friderik Knez, BSc (Physics), President
• Manja Kitek Kuzman, PhD, BSc (Architecture)
• Marjana Šijanec Zavrl, PhD, BSc (Civil Engineering)
• Niko Torelli, PhD, prof. dr. dr. h. c.

will carry out the special mission and select the product which is environmentally friendly through its entire lifecycle – from natural resources, manufacture and use of product to its decomposition.

The jury will evaluate the environmental acceptability through a number of parameters.

The first group of parameters are indicators of the lifecycle:
- Use of primary energy
- Global warming potential (GWP)
- Ozone depletion potential (ODP)
- Acidification potential (AP)
- Eutrophication potential (EP)
- Evapotranspiration potential of water (A-ETP) and earth (T-ETP)

The second group includes effects on society and diversity of life.

The third group is composed of LCE (Life Cycle Engineering) and DfE (Design for Environment), where we attempt to evaluate economic, technical and environmental aspects (in the sense of depleting and availability of natural resources).

Since this is an award and a comparative evaluation, it is necessary, due to the marking transparency, that the attained state is evaluated on the basis of various evidence. This does not include only supporting documentation in the sense of certificates, but also other evidence from which it is possible to discern the truthfulness of the asserted product properties.

OPENING.
The Opening Ceremony of the 49th Home Fair will take place on 2 March 2010 at 1 p.m. in Urška Hall (2nd floor, Dunajska 18). The Mayor of the City of Ljubljana, Mr. Zoran Janković, will officially open the event.

CATALOGUE.
Upon purchase of an entry ticket, the visitors receive the Fair Catalogue, which presents the Green Mission prize, the accompanying programme and the expert organisations participating in the organisation of consultations, lectures and workshops, provides short presentations of exhibitors, a list of presented companies and the layout of the halls.

PRIZES FOR VISITORS.
As each previous year, the Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre has prepared prizes for visitors, contributed by the exhibitors. Each visitor receives a coupon for participation in the prize draw upon purchase of the entry ticket. Each 500th visitor receives a prize in the form of an entry ticket for the Ambient Ljubljana – Furniture Fair, which will take place in the beginning of November of this year.

ENTRY FEES.

• 7,00 € - Adults
• 5,00 € - Concessions (children from 7 to 16, secondary school students, students, pensioners)
• free of charge – children up to 7 years of age, disabled on wheelchairs and person assisting the wheelchair user

Cashiers will be open from 9:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. between 2 and 6 of March 2010, from 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on 7 March 2010.


FAIR OPENING TIMES.

• from 2 to 6 March 2010: from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• 7 March 2010: from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

PRESS CENTRE.
The Press Centre of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (Dunajska 18) in the Foyer of Marmorna Hall, next to the main cashiers, is open for the duration of the Fair from 9:15 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., on the last day of the Fair it closes at 5:00 p.m. All up-to-date Fair information is available to journalists. If not previously completed via the webpage of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, accreditation of journalists will also be possible there.

FAIR ON-LINE.
The Home Fair 2010 presents itself at www.home-fair.si

Jan 21, 2010

Opening of events from the field of tourism at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre

Today at 11:00, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre officially opened the doors of the largest tourism promoting event in Slovenia: the Tourism and Leisure Show – TIP, the Boat Show and Conventa – Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events Show. The first two events host 150 exhibitors from 13 countries, presenting the offer of tourist destinations both in Slovenia and abroad and providing ideas for actively spent leisure time. Conventa, the 2nd Meetings and Incentive Travel Show for the region of southeast Europe, a business event of restricted access, will host over 200 foreign and Slovenian invitees, who will be able to view the offers of over 110 companies.

On behalf of the sponsor, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia, Marjan Hribar, MSc, Director of the Directorate of Tourism, officially opened the event. He emphasised the importance of joint promotion of Slovenian tourism and announced a number of demanding, innovative actions with clear goals, which will contribute to maintaining the level of income from tourism despite the unfavourable economic conditions continuing also this year.

The Slovenian Tourist Organisation presents itself at the Show as the central national tourist organisation for promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination. Mr. Dimitrij Piciga, MSc, addressed all present on its behalf at the opening. At the Show, STO presents Slovenia in line with current trends in tourism as a green destination, Close to Home and Close to the Heart, revealing its byways through the project Next Exit – Byways are more attractive than Highways. As emphasised by Mr. Piciga, a 7 percent increase in arrivals and overnight stays of domestic tourists was recorded last year.

The event is supported by a rich accompanying programme, tomorrow you are invited to an evening entitled I feel Slovenia, where the awards for the best photographs will be presented within the framework of the project Picture Slovenia. 



The Shows are open from Thursday, 21 January, to Sunday, 24 January, 2010, 10:00 to 19:00, on Sunday closing their doors at 17:00. Entry fees: Adults 4.00 EURO, Concessions 3.00 EURO.


Jan 15, 2010

Turizem in prosti čas, Salon plovil in Conventa na GR

On Thursday, 21 January 2010, at 11:00, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre will officially open the Tourism and Leisure Show (TIP) and the Boat Show, which, as the titles suggest, present, in addition to the world tourist destinations, also the entire Slovenian tourist offer. The main theme of TIP 2010 are last-minute discounts for school winter holidays and first- minute discounts for spring and summer holidays. On 21 and 22 of January the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre also hosts Conventa, the 2nd Meeting and Incentive Travel Show for the area of southeast Europe. The event is of a business nature and closed to the public; during the two days, organisers of events and providers of business-congress services will meet.


EVENT ID.

• Tourism and Leisure Show (21 to 24 January 2010) – offers guidance among the tourist offers, guidance for experiencing Slovenia and getting to know the world, ideas for active and quality spent leisure time; organised by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, in cooperation with partners. At this year’s TIP, more than 120 exhibitors from 13 countries present themselves on 7,000 square metres of interior and exterior exhibition surfaces.
• 6th Boat Show (21 to 24 January 2010)– smaller sports and tourist boats show, organised by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. This year, 25 Slovenian exhibitors present themselves on 3,000 square meters of exhibition surfaces in Kocka Hall and on the outdoor platform.
• Conventa (21 to 22 January 2010), the 2nd Meeting and Incentive Travel Show for the area of SE Europe, organised by the Slovenian Convention Bureau, company Go.Mice and the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre as the technical organiser. This year over 100 companies confirmed their participation at the Conventa; the Show will open its doors to over 200 foreign and Slovenian invited guests. Most of the invited guests are from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Great Britain. The purpose of Conventa is to increase the visibility of meeting and incentive travel offers of the region.

CONTENT.
Tourism and Leisure Show (TIP) presents under a common motto of Catch me through your lens! the newest tourism guidelines for the coming year and offers and ideas for actively spent leisure time. The sponsor of the event is the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia.

The program of the Show includes the following content sets:

• Holidays through the photo lens, presentation of the Picture Slovenia project, advice and photo equipment; The creators of the all-Slovenian project of Picture Slovenia – Zavod Tovarna, Nikon Slovenija, Slovenian Tourist Organisation, Dinners Club International and the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, have envisioned the webpage, photo competition and exhibition of prize-winning photographs particularly with the intention of improving the presentation of Slovenia, both through images and by content, on the web. Until recently, key words and search criteria returned only a small sample of hits, not nearly enough for a successful breakthrough. The response at the conclusion of the photography competition at the end of last year was really fantastic! An incredible 8,546 photographs arrived at the website, contributed by over 1,000 different photographers. By that time, the website was visited by over 45,000 people from 56 different countries around the world. The visitors viewed the photographs over half a million times. The winning photograph of Kačna cave was taken by the Peter Gedei, the awards ceremony for the best photographs will take place on Friday, 22 January at 19:00. A selection of photographs will be available for viewing as part of a special exhibition within the framework of the Show in the foyer of Marmorna Hall.
• Escape the everyday, ideas for interesting and different trips;Through projects of the Slovenian Tourist Organisation, Tourist Association of Slovenia and other individual actors the integral tourist offer of our country is presented. STO introduces to the visitors the updated project Next Exit – Byways are more attractive than Highways, local tourist organisations and tourist associations present themselves through homemade crafts, customs and culinary art. The campaign Close to Home, Close to the Heart will promote the offers for winter holidays in Slovenia through a prize draw at the Show. The Tourist Association of Slovenia, with its 100-year tradition, unites almost 700 Tourist Associations and Regional Tourist Boards with 10,000 members, mostly volunteers. Each year, the societies prepare numerous events, which are well visited by both domestic and foreign tourists. The diverse work of approximately 100 tourist societies and associations is presented in the Jurček pavilion on stalls and with an animation corner. The presentations will be enriched by tastings of culinary specialities, presentations of old customs, traditions and crafts, exhibitions of souvenirs, presentations of promotional material, folklore and music group appearances, etc. The Show marks the jubilee 50th anniversary of Kurentovanje, which will take place at Ptuj from 2 to 16 February 2010. The regions of Dolenjska, Bela krajina and Posavje present themselves with a new unique tourist product – Tourism in vineyard cottages (www.kompas-nm.si). Visitors will also be able to explore the offers of Slovenian natural spas. Foreign countries are presented at the Show within the framework of the project (Un)known foreign lands www.kultura-natura.si , for the first time the regions of Friuli- Venezia Giulia, Koroška and Slovenia present themselves as part of the project Playing together, which was created from the idea of joint organisation of the Olympic games in 2006. The goal of the cooperation is to present the three regions as a tourist destination without borders and also to take advantage of the existing marketplace synergy and future development of tourism offers of the region. The visitors may also explore the holiday offers for school children. An artificial surface skating ring, where skating is possible during winter and summer, will be located on the outdoor platform of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre.
• Hints for holidays outside of Slovenia; Visitors may choose between offers from Spain, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Italy and Austria. Tunisia and Hungary present themselves at the Show for the first time. The Hungarian city of Pecs, the European Capital of Culture, invites visitors to view the rich cultural tradition of the region, where Germans, Turks and other nations have left their mark through the centuries. Soccer fans desiring to see the World Championship in person are offered interesting trips to the Republic of South Africa. It should undoubtedly be mentioned, that the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, with ITTFA (International Tourism Trade Fairs Association) membership of the Tourism and Leisure Show, strives towards greater visibility of Slovenia in the world.
• Presentation of offers of tourist agencies;
• New cycling paths, not yet taken walkways, golf, top surfing points;
• The organisers of the event included cycling tourism as part of the Show programme. The providers of this popular form of leisure will include presentations of the offer of bicycles and bicycle equipment, cycling hotels with their offer of guided cycling, cycling literature and web pages, associations and cycling events in Slovenia. The media sponsor of the cycling section of the Show is the magazine Bicikel. This year’s offer will be additionally enriched by the sale of used bicycle equipment delivered by consignment.
• The Show marks the 10th anniversary of the campaign “Slovenia cycling” and 15 years of operation of the project Council for Cycling and Tourism at the Tourist Association of Slovenia. The purpose of the project is to invite visitors to partake in regular sports activities, active preventive care of their health and to nurture an active way of life. The campaign introduces a system of sports and recreation events, where recreational sportsmen/women compete for prizes. The whole family can take part in their events. Possibilities of cycling, hiking or visits of thematic or educational paths are also offered by Zeleni Kras (www.zelenikras.si).
• In cooperation with the Golf Association of Slovenia and the Golf courses Economic Interest Grouping of Slovenia, a uniform presentation of offers of Slovenian golf, particularly for those without prior experiences in this field but eager to experience it, has been prepared. Thus, visitors are provided with all information on how and where to become a golf player, what equipment is required for the sport at one location and they are even able to test their skills on the improvised golf course on site. Surfing enthusiasts – of all types – windsurfing, kite surfing and surfing – are offered all required information on supplementary surfing equipment, surfing schools, surfing holidays, etc., including also presentation of clubs, competitors, specialised web pages and sale of used surfing equipment delivered by consignment.
• • Providers of fashionable and quality leisure equipment.

Boat Show:
In accordance with the tradition, the Show presents vessels of various dimensions and intended use (family cruisers, rubber boats, speed boats – sports boats for various activities on water, etc.), offer of charters, and providers of products and services, which supplement the nautical offer. On the outdoor platform we present the innovation of the nautical industry, the Greenline 33 vessel, which perfectly combines advanced design, useful functionality and economy of navigation and use. Those spending time at sea, exploring the coast of the Adriatic Sea and advocates of the genuine touch with the sea, can explore the new Draga 710. In addition to the above, the BSC 53 model will also be available for viewing. The visit of this year’s nautical enthusiasts will be enriched by the accompanying events, where they will be able to listen and take part in certain events on the stage.

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME.

TIP:
The accompanying programme offers various presentations and round tables:

STO is preparing a round table entitled Green Tourism – the new challenge of tourism in SE Europe
As part of the Tourist Association of Slovenia, talks will be organised on Marking and maintenance of hiking paths in Slovenia
The Municipality of Ljubljana presents at the Show a cycling platform and cycling in Ljubljana.

Boat Show:
The activities of Morigenos, the Association of dolphin watchers, will be presented; the publishing house Didakta will present a film at the Show, which was created based on the biography of a known boats man Mirko Bogić, who is seen by some as the father of Slovenian competitive sailing; on the stage we will attempt to present a few secrets of sailing since the complete sailing boat Seascape 18 will be set up on the rotating base; selected members of the Slovenian Sailing Association can be found promoting the association and its activities for the duration of the Show. We will also present the nautical handbook by author Igor Orlov and the project Janja and Marko in the Marina, which started out as a tiny user handbook on behaviour and activities at the marina and on a vessel, but grew into a national project, where the children constructed a sailing boat from waste material and actually sailed with it.

Conventa:
Conventa is the largest regional Meetings and Incentive Travel Show for the area of southeast Europe, where various exhibitors form the field of congress tourism take part (event organisers, congress centres, congress hotels, PCO and DMC agencies). Key advantage of the Show is the possibility of personal meetings with the providers of services of congress tourism, both in the formal and informal environment. The organiser of the event offers a personal timetable of one-to-one meetings for each exhibitor, with the meetings among potential buyers and exhibitors organised in advance. Both domestic and international event organisers are invited to the Show. This year’s novelty is a thematic City of Congress Services, where providers of facilities for successful execution of congresses, conferences, exhibitions, meetings and motivation events will present themselves.

CATALOGUE.
Upon purchase of an entry ticket, the visitors receive the magazine Oddih, a magazine for leisure and tourism, and the catalogue of exhibitors of the Tourism and Leisure Show and the Boat Show. The magazine will be published as a section of Dnevnik newspaper on 19 January 2010.

SHOW OPENING TIMES:
10:00 – 19:00
10:00 – 17:00 / Sunday

ENTRY FEES.

• Adults: 4.00 €,
• Concessions 3.00 € (children from 12 to 16, secondary school students, students, pensioners)
• children up to 12 years and disabled on wheelchairs and person assisting a wheelchair user: free of charge.

Cashiers will be open from 9:45 to 18:30 between 21 and 23 of January 2010, and from 9:45 to 16:30on 24 January 2010.

OPENING.
The Opening Ceremony of the Tourism and Leisure show and the Boat Show will take place on 21 January 2010, at 11:00 in Kupola Hall of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. Marjan Hribar, MSc, Director of the Directorate of Tourism at the Ministry of the Economy, will open the Shows.

PRESS CENTRE.
The Press Centre of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (Dunajska 18, 1st floor) is open for the duration of both Shows from 9:45 to 18:30, only on the last day of the Show it closes at 16:30. Up-to-date Show information is available to journalists. If not previously completed via the webpage of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, accreditation of journalists will also be possible there.

More on events at: www.gr-sejem.si

Nov 3, 2009

President of the Republic opened the jubilee 20th Ljubljana Furniture Fair

Today at 11 a.m. the 20th Ljubljana Furniture Fair officially opened its doors. The largest event of its kind in Slovenia, this year hosting 326 companies from 23 countries, was formally opened by dr. Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia. He also presented the prize for the best product among the Top Ten, which is awarded by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre based on the selection of a special international jury. The prize was awarded to company POBLES d.o.o, for its kitchen Partes, designer Mateja Cukala. At the opening, the Golden Link award was also presented and the new name of the event announced to the public: Ambient Ljubljana – Furniture Fair.

In his opening speech, Mr. President emphasised the importance of the deeper truth, which the Fair communicates; i.e. the relationship between form and function, related to the aesthetics and use, which has changed through time. Mr. President asked himself what is the essence of development, not only of the furniture industry, but also of Slovenia as a country. The essence is in the cultivation of our living and the environment. That is the way to greater success. The results of success may also be found in the past, emphasised the President of the Republic, and reminded those present of the rex chair by Prof. Niko Kralj, who originally combined aesthetics and function in his product and gained worldwide recognition. In Slovenia, the furniture industry is also connected with wood as the most comfortable raw material of interior design. However, it is questionable if our society sufficiently understands the importance of wood, knows to sufficiently cultivate its riches. Unfortunately, we cannot be proud of the level of wood industry in Slovenia, dr. Danilo Türk added, we have too many bad practices. Timber still represents an important export activity in Slovenia. Sadly, we are still not able to successfully connect the natural givens of wood with the fields related to cultivation of living. Visiting the Ljubljana Furniture Fair provides one with an impression of what our economic opportunities are. We wish there were more fairs like this, concluded the President of the Republic.

Top Ten prize recipients were selected by an international jury on the basis of criteria that a prize is awarded to a product or system solution which best combines an innovative approach, functionality, and technological or artistic quality. The jury, consisting of Steve Diskin, USA, Isabel Herault, France, Špela Hudnik, Slovenia, Thomas Machhörndl, Austria, Vladimir Pezdirc, Chairman, Slovenia, and Janez Koželj, Honorary Chairman, Slovenia, selected the following prize recipients:

• Company ETIS d.o.o. Ljubljana, for kitchen extractor hood ELICA OM SPECIAL EDITION, designer Elica team design
• Company IKONA ARHITEKTURA d.o.o. and company POHIŠTVO APAČE d.o.o. for youth and children’s room Flex, designer Barbara Selinšek
• Company KOLPA d.d., METLIKA, for table Simple, designer Gordana Marinko Vinski
• Company LIP RADOMLJE d.d., for table and bench East Village XXX, designer X PAND, Austria
• Company MAREMICO d.o.o., for patented modular bed Leticia, designers Tine and Emil Marinšek
• Company ODEJA d.o.o., for Nostalgia collection, designer Maja Tomažič
• Company OSM POHIŠTVO d.o.o., for children’s furniture Lively animals- Elephant, manufacturers BOLETTE BLÆDEL AND LOUISE BLÆDEL
• Company PARON d.o.o., for studio chair Waati Orpheus, designer Vasja Grabner
• Company POBLES d.o.o, for kitchen Partes, designer Mateja Cukala
• Company SVEA LESNA INDUSTRIJA, d.d., for kitchen Tulipana 3, designer Darko Šurina

In its explanation why the Top of the Top prize was awarded to company POBLES d.o.o, for kitchen Partes, designer Mateja Cukala, the jury of the Top Ten wrote: “… Kitchen Partes is functionally perfect. The quality of execution of individual details and surfaces exceeds the usual achievements in the field. The use of playful natural structure of wood on visible surfaces contributes permanent freshness and creates a pleasant natural environment in the living space.”

The prize Golden Link (Zlata vez), awarded by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre and the Furniture and Wood Processing Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, to a new, not yet publically presented product, for design originality, marketing penetration and integral concept, was presented this year to the company Alples, d.d., for bedroom »Samba« by designer Marjana Rejc. The recipient of the 2nd prize is the kitchen programme “Tulipana” by designer Darko Šurina from company Svea lesna industrija, d.d. Third prize was awarded to Mizarstvo Erjavec Andrej s.p., for kitchen Multi-Line, author Ajda Kranjc.

Tonight, at the evening reception for the exhibitors, the remaining prizes and awards of the 20th Ljubljana Furniture Fair will be presented. Recipients of the Prize for the best exhibition space, awarded by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre for the best exhibition space based on criteria of originality, artistic perfection and aesthetic point of view, are:

• company Donar d.o.o. for an aesthetically designed, graphically perfected exhibition space, distinguished by its rich contents.
• company Kolpa d.d., Metlika for technically perfected, also artistically appealing space, which, considering the fact that the specimens are complex, presents these clearly and expressively.
• Villa Bravum Group, for successfully joining 17 manufacturers in an ambitious and complex project, which presents to the visitors interior and exterior environments in an expressive manner.

The recipient of the Plaque of Naš Dom magazine for furniture of a domestic manufacturer, with whose products it is possible to best and most efficiently furnish either an entire dwelling or a part of it, is kitchen Alba by Pobles d.o.o., designer Mateja Cukala. Pobles Alba is a simple, minimalist and open kitchen, which captivates with great functionality on a small plan.

The expert jury of the society awarded the Prize for achievements in design of the Designers Society of Slovenia to Igor Seljak, Assistant Professor, BSc (Architecture), for mentorship and management of the summer designer workshop “Chair for short-term sitting” under the auspices of the Faculty of Architecture.

The prizes of the Wood Processing Association for Honourable member and Emeritus member are awarded to Majda Kanop, MSc, who through her work significantly contributed to the professionalism and popularisation of wood processing, and Mirko Geršak, who through his work significantly contributed to the organisational and professional development of the Wood Processing Association of Slovenia and to strengthening of general perception of the profession.

This year’s Fair, with its joint motto of Refresh your home, offers numerous novelties such as the round table entitled How to obtain added value in the furniture industry, reading corners providing literature from the fields of design and interior design, presentations of projects by students of architecture and industrial design, continuation of last year’s Architectural dialogue, etc. The event is open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., on Sunday its doors close at 6:00 p.m. Upon purchase of tickets, visitors receive a Fair Catalogue, which is a useful guide through the Fair with a list of exhibitors.

www.furniture-fair.si

Jun 16, 2009

The official announcement of the Vino Ljubljana 2009

Tonight at 20.00 hours the award ceremony of Vino Ljubljana, the 55th International Wine and Spirits Competition, will be held at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress Centre.

24 samples of spirits from five countries have been assessed by five tasters this year. The title of world champion among spirits was awarded to Fructal d.d. from Slovenia for Prior Viljamovka and Miroslav Civrić from Serbia for CMD Dunjavača 1997. 29 samples of spirits from four countries have been assessed by five tasters this year. 59 wine tasters from 17 countries chose world champions, a Slovenian champion, champions of individual wine-growing regions, Slovenian sort champions, trophies awarded by VinoFed, Tsukamoto, winners of Slovenian wine particulars and the grand gold medal, the gold and the silver medals.

Vino Ljubljana has been running since 1955 and is considered as the oldest international wine tasting event in the world. The event in Ljubljana will see foreign samples represent a total of 70 per cent of all samples, with local samples making up the remaining 30 per cent.

May 29, 2009

55th International Wine and Spirits Tasting at the GR Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre

Every year at this time the Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre hosts the international wine (28 May – 1 June, 2009) and spirits (27 May, 2009) competition, with this year’s event already the 55th in a row. Alcohol – 29 samples from 4 countries – was sampled yesterday by five tasters from Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, while wine samples will be put to 23 foreign and 37 local tasters from tomorrow through to Monday. The wine tasters come from 17 countries and will score 470 wine samples from 17 countries. On 16 June, the Jurček pavilion will host an awards ceremony for the prize-winning wine and spirit samples, where the winners will be announced and presented with medals and diplomas.

More info at www.vinoljubljana.com

May 27, 2009

55th International Wine and Spirits Tasting at the GR Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre

Every year at this time the Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre hosts the international wine (28 May – 1 June, 2009) and spirits (27 May, 2009) competition, with this year’s event already the 55th in a row. Alcohol – 29 samples from 4 countries – was sampled yesterday by five tasters from Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, while wine samples will be put to 23 foreign and 37 local tasters from tomorrow through to Monday. The wine tasters come from 17 countries and will score 470 wine samples from 17 countries. On 16 June, the Jurček pavilion will host an awards ceremony for the prize-winning wine and spirit samples, where the winners will be announced and presented with medals and diplomas.

Vino Ljubljana ranks amongst the top 10 most elite competitions in the world and has been under the patronage of three of the most prominent world organisations, responsible for the sensory evaluation of wines, from the very beginning. These are: OIV – the International Organisation of Vine and Wine from Paris, France (from 1955); UIE – the International Union of Oenologists from Paris, France (from 1980); VinoFed – the World Federation of International Wine and Spirits Assessment from Montreal, Canada (from 1994). Vino Ljubljana 2009 is also sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia.

Vino Ljubljana is organised based on OIV rules, with total anonymity of individual samples assured, featuring world renowned tasters as the judges, while the whole event is very modern from a technical point of view. Wines are scored based on a 100-point method proposed by OIV, the International Union of Oenologists and VinoFed. The points method is complemented by a written evaluation of every wine parameter (with profiles of individual wine parameters and aroma descriptors). The wine evaluation process is subject to application of a special computer programme. Tasters are required to complete all three evaluation phases. The event in Ljubljana will see foreign samples represent a total of 70 per cent of all samples, with local samples making up the remaining 30 per cent.

Vino Ljubljana has been running since 1955 and is considered as the oldest international wine tasting event in the world. Let us reiterate that Ljubljana has been a very prominent city of wine since the middle ages, when it was known for its wine and vine. Ljubljana was the sampling location for Illyrian wines as early as 1811, while the first wine exhibition was hosted in the autumn of 1926 within the scope of the Ljubljana Grand Fair. Since 1990, the winners or recipients of awards at the event in Ljubljana have been using their prizes to promote their products in EU member states.

The grand award ceremony for the winning samples of wines and spirits on 16 June will act as the setting for announcement and award of the following prizes:

From the international spirit competition – two champions;
The international wine competition will produce world champions, a Slovenian champion, champions of individual wine-growing regions, Slovenian sort champions, trophies awarded by VinoFed, Tsukamoto, Akos Asvany, winners of Slovenian wine particulars and the grand gold medal.


Results of last year’s competition


More information: Marjana Lavrič, PR Manager at the Ljubljana Convention and Exhibition Centre: 01 300 26 26, 041 236 912; marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si.

More about Vino Ljubljana at www.vinoljubljana.com

Feb 26, 2009

Let's build together!

48. International HOME Fair, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (3 - 8 March 2009)

On Tuesday, 3 March, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre has opened the doors of the 48th International Home Fair with the motto: Let's build together! This year, 577 companies from 30 countries are exhibiting their offer on 18,000 m2 of exhibition space. As the fair has again increased in size, exhibitors are presenting their offer in all of the exhibition halls of the Centre, three additional prefabricated halls and external exhibition surfaces. The fair includes a varied accompanying program, prepared by the ZRMK Construction Institute, the Association of Woodworking and Furniture Industry at the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia and the Korak Information Centre. Last year, the fair attracted 52000 visitors.


CONTENT
The Home fair is one of the largest and most visited events at GR, it is an international fair of construction which showcases offers in joinery, internal design, decorations for your home and garden, cooling and heating equipment, building materials and products and products for technical protection, style and extra spirit in your home.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMME BY HALLS.

• Mestna Hall - A1 - joinery, garage doors, fence systems, technical security
• Kupola Hall - A - prefabricated houses, roofing, skylights
• Lobby of the Kupola - shades, insurance, publishing, lectures and counseling
• Gallery - catering
• A - A2 Passageway - publishing
• Kocka Hall - A2 - joinery, security doors
• Marmorna Hall - B - air conditioning and heating equipment, bathrooms and sanitation equipment
• Marmorna Hall Lobby - B2 - heating equipment
• Marmorna Hall - B Basement - parquet and laminate floors, cooling and heating equipment, construction
• Marmorna Hall Lobby - B2 basement - heating equipment, tools, purification plants
• Steklena Hall - C - construction, roofing, fronting, insulation technology
• Fontana Hall - D - construction, roofing, fronting, insulation technology, colors, lacquers, shading
• Jurček - E - gardening and landscaping equipment, bathroom equipment
• F - Hall - furniture, beds and water beds, garden furniture, saunas and swimming pools
• Exterior - fireplaces, stoves, chimneys, cement products, joinery, swimming pools and equipment, gardening and landscaping equipment, construction products and materials

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
The exhibition is accompanied with a varied program, aimed not only at the professional public but at all visitors.
The ZRMK Construction Institute and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning are organizing energy counseling for visitors free of charge each day from 10.00 to 18.00 (right extension of the Lobby). There will also be a presentation of the activities of the Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund with resources for loans and subsidies for environmentally friendly investments of natural and legal persons.

Visitors are also welcome to attend themed lectures. Lecturers include energy consultants of the ENSVET network and professionals from the ZRMK Construction Institute operating in the field of living environments, construction physics and energy in buildings, as well as in the “Sign of Quality in Construction” project. The Sign of Quality in Construction is an optional certification sign and service trademark used for differentiation of the best products and services in Slovenian construction. he main goals of the project include the promotion of products and services of the highest quality, improvement of quality of construction in Slovenia and informing and protection of customers - users. The program includes two free professional workshops:

• 6. 3. (12.00 - 14:00) the Cooling of Buildings is a Hot Topic workshop - a project in two phases: the first phase is aimed at creating a review of sustainable methods for cooling buildings and presenting good practices in cooling of business and public buildings. Results of the technologies and approaches along with select good practices are joined together in the Keep Cool tool (link: http://www.keep-cool.net/). This tool provides tips and guidelines for investors, technical advisors, maintenance personnel and building users, along with detailed descriptions of cooling technologies and case studies of good practices. As the information is adapted to different user profiles, the workshop is interesting both for professionals (technology descriptions, LCC analysis software) and maintenance personnel, investors and end users.

• 7. 3. (12.00 –15.00) This lecture will discuss current themes in new construction and renovation of low energy and passive buildings.

Association of Woodworking and Furniture Industry at the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia, Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses has prepared professional lectures and commercial presentations aimed at all those interested in prefabricated wood construction (4 - 7 March, common exhibition space of the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses, Hall A):
- Passive wooden houses
- Wood prefabricated construction in terms of energy efficiency
- Finding financial incentives when building with wood
- Building with wood - an opportunity and challenge for Slovenia
- Use of wood as contribution to mitigating climate change
- Wood in folklore

KORAK Information Centre (Urška Hall):

• 4. 3. (15.00-18.00): Counseling for contractors - legally informed and healthy contractor
• 5. 3. (15.00-18.00): Maintenance and sanitation of premises - moisture in premises: problems and solutions
• 6. 3. (15.00-18.00): Light in space - light, colors and perception of space; characteristics of good lighting

At the end of the week, the Home Fair (lobby of City Hall - A1) will host the presentation of the Non Violence Network - an association of the four largest non-governmental organizations against violence in Slovenia:

• Association SOS Help Line for Women and Children - Victims of Violence
• Ključ - centre for fight against THB
• Women’s Counselling Service
• Association Against Violent Communication

At the coming International Women’s Day, 8 March, they wish to call the visitors’ attention to the most common violation of women’s human rights. Every fifth woman in Slovenia is a victim of violence in the very place where she should feel safest - at home.

AWARDS
The Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre and the Association of Woodworking and Furniture Industry at the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia are traditionally presenting the Star of Europe award for the best products in internal and external joinery.

OPENING
The grand opening of the Home Fair will take place on 3 March 2009 at 12.00 in the Urška hall (2nd floor, Dunajska 18). The event will be opened by Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr. Zoran Jankovič.

CATALOG
Upon purchase of a ticket, each visitor receives a fair catalog containing a list and short descriptions of all exhibitors, a list of represented companies and map of halls.

PRIZES FOR VISITORS
GR has again prepared a number of prizes, donated by exhibitors. Each 500th visitor of the fair will receive a free pass for the Ljubljana Furniture Fair, coming in November this year.

TICKET PRICES

• 7.00 EUR - Regular entry pass (adults)
• 5.00 EUR - Discount pass (Children aged 7 - 16, students, retired persons):
• free of charge - Children up to the age of 7, disabled persons in wheelchairs and their assistants

Registers are open 9:15 – 19:15 from 3 to 7 March 2009 and from 9:15 to 17:45 on 8 March.


FAIR OPEN HOURS

• 3 - 7 March 2009: from 9:00 to 19:30
• 8March 2009: from 9:30 to 18:00

PRESS CENTRE
The press centre at Dunajska 18, 1st floor, is open from 9.15 to 19.00 every day of the fair except the last day, when it will close at 17.00. Representatives of the press have access to all relevant event information. Journalists can also get accredited at the centre, if they did not do so at the fair website.

THE FAIR ONLINE
The Home 2009 fair is presented online at the following address: www.home-fair.si

Jan 19, 2009

Tourism and Leisure Show, Boat Show and Conventa at GR Ljubljana

On Thursday at 11 a.m., the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre is set to open the Tourism and Leisure Show including the Boat Show, which, as their respective names already point out, represent the entire Slovenian tourism offering next to global tourist destinations, while this year will see a special focus on ideas for quality free time. A novelty of the events is the magazine Oddih (Relaxation), which each visitor is set to receive when purchasing a ticket. 22. January 22 and 23 will also see the Exhibition and Convention Centre hosting Convent, the first conference sector exchange for SE Europe. The event is of a business nature and is closed to the public, with the tow-day event set to play host to meetings of event organisers and business conference services providers.


DETAILS

• Tourism and Leisure – a guide through the tourist offering, a guide to experiencing Slovenia and getting to know the world, ideas for active and quality free time; the organiser is the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, together with our partners. This year's Show is set to stretch across 7.000 square metres of indoor and outdoor exhibition space and will play host to 142 exhibitors from eight countries.
• The 5th Boat Show – show featuring smaller sports and tourist boats, organised by the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. This year’s Show will include 2.00 square metres of exhibition space in the “Cube” hall with 24 companies from three countries taking part.
• Conventa, the first business conference for the conference sector operating in SE Europe, organised by the Slovenian Convention Bureau. Conventa, which is the follow-on from the national project Simex, will take place this year on over 1.400 m2 (in 2008 this figure was 770m2), namely in the lower floor of the Marble hall. The show is expected to draw over 130 foreign guests in addition to domestic participants, with arrivals anticipated from various countries, mostly EU, including conference services providers from SE Europe (besides Slovenia, service providers are also expected from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Bulgaria). Conventa’s aim is to enhance the profile of the region’s conference services offering.

CONTENTS.
The Tourism and Leisure Show represents the latest tourism trends in the coming year under a joint motto Ready for new adventures?, offering a concrete range of destinations and activities, with ideas for active free time. The event’s sponsor is the Ministry for the Economy of the Republic of Slovenia.

The exhibitors’ offer has been broken up thematically into the following sections:

• Presentation of Slovenian tourism offering by individual destinations

Projects by the Slovenian Tourism Organisation, the Tourism Association of Slovenia and other individual stakeholders present a holistic offer of tourism services available in our country. STO will present visitors with their award-winning project Stepping out – byways are more seductive than highways, while local tourist organisations and societies are set to present themselves by showing off home crafts, traditions and cuisine. With its 100 years of tradition, the Tourist Association of Slovenia combines almost 700 tourist societies and local tourist associations with ten thousand members, mostly volunteers. Every year, these organisations prepare for numerous events which both local and foreign tourists are very fond of. Their diverse work will be put on display by around one hundred tourist societies and associations in the Jurček pavilion, with stalls and an animation corner. They are set to be lightened up by tasting of culinary goodies, displays of old customs, habits and crafts, with displays of souvenirs, presentation of promotional material, performances of folklore and musical groups, etc.

• Presentation of international tourist destinations and various tourist service providers (travel organisers and travel agents, spas, hotels, carriers, camping & caravanning, etc.)

The show will play host to presentation of eight foreign countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Turkey), including several domestic agencies who market global destinations. This year, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre will devote particular attention to attracting international exhibitors and becoming a member of ITTFA, the renowned international tourism fair organisation. They hope to take advantage of membership in the organisation to raise their profile as a tourism event on an international level.

• Ideas for quality leisure activities (biking, hiking, surfing, golf)

This year, special attention is set to be devoted to ideas for quality leisure activities. The biking tourism activities on offer will include a range of bikes and equipment, specialised offer and services, biking trails and expert literature.

Together with the Golfing Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Golf Courses Economic Interest Association, a joint presentation of the Slovenian golfing offering has been organised, in particular for those with no experience in the field, but who are eager to get new experience. This will provide visitors with a one-stop-shop for all information on how and where to become a golfer, what equipment is needed for the sport, while they will also be able to try out the game itself on an improvised course at the exhibition centre. Surfing enthusiasts – this includes windsurfing, kite surfing and surfing – should not despair either, as the show will provide them with information on surfing gear, surfing schools, surfing trips, etc. This section will include consignment sales of used surfing equipment, presentation of clubs, competitors and specialised websites.

The show will be livened up in a large part by the organisation of the Chamber of Mountain Centres, with an extraordinary presentation of the first organised ski slope in Ljubljana – Kindergarten on snow, where kids will be able to ski down the Exhibition and Convention Centre makeshift slope. Visitors will also be presented with the benefits card Active Slovenia, which allows visitors to purchase ski passes at a knock-down price of 20% off.

Boat Show:
The first-ever boat show was organised at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in 2005, while the event follows on from the once prominent Alpe-Adria Fair and later the Holiday Fair.
The Show will feature boats of various dimensions and purposes (family cruisers, fishing boats, rubber boats, speedboats – sports boats for various water activities, etc.), among them: Chaparral 250 sig (cruiser), Vista 278 (family cruise), Quicksilver 640 WE (fishing boat – big game fishing), Sea Ray 195 (speedboat – sports boat). Novelties on the market are set to include presentation of the rubber boat series K7 – Eros.

AUXILIARY PROGRAMME
The associating activities always give the show an air of liveliness. The conference halls and lecture halls, stages and exhibition space will all feature various popular and expert lectures, round tables, various presentations and feasts (round table on the Suitable form of environmentally-friendly tourism in parks organised by the Triglav National Park, a series of lectures by Kompas d.d., the traditional fancy-dress “kurentovanje” festival, presentation of oriental dances, swing, etc.). Ultra-marathon runner Marko Baloh will take part in a 10-hour charity spinning marathon together with visitors. The bikers’ club KD Rajd is taking part with their presentation of the Funsports Rajd park, including mountain-biking and BMX-biking, while monocyclist Jože Voroš (Gulliver Sports Team) is presenting his traffic-preventive project entitled Attention drivers, slow driving will also get you far. The Slovenian Tourist Organisation will hold a round table entitled The Financial Crisis as a Challenge for Slovenian Tourism.

Visitors will have the opportunity to renew their knowledge on diving. Aquas d.o.o. is set to organise a lecture on underwater fishing. This will include various fish-catching techniques, the diverse and quality equipment required for the sport, advice for save free diving, etc., hosted by Robi Podgoršek, a 13-time national champion.

CATALOGUE.
When buying their tickets, visitors will also receive the magazine Oddih (Relaxation), i.e. the endorsed leisure and tourism magazine, as well as a catalogue featuring the exhibitors at the Leisure and Tourism and Boat Show. The magazine was published as a supplement to daily newspaper Dnevnik on January 20, 2009.

OPENING HOURS:
10.00 - 19.00
10.00 - 17.00 / Sunday

ENTRANCE FEE
Regular ticket (adults): 5,00 €, concessions 3,00 €
(children from 7 to 16, high school and university students, OAPs); children up to the age of 7 and disabled visitors on wheelchairs, including their company: free of charge.

Ticketing offices will be open from January 22 to January 24, 2009 from 9.45 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., and on January 25, 2009 from 9.45 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

OPENING.
The grand opening of the Tourism and Leisure Show and the Boat Show will take place on January 22, 2009 at 11 a.m. in the Glass hall of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Conference Centre. The event will be opened by Darja Radić MA, state secretary at the Ministry for the Economy.

PRESS CENTRE.
The press centre at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Conference Centre (Dunajska 18, 1st floor) will remain open during both of the events from 9.45 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., with the exception of the concluding day, when it will close at 4.30 p.m. Journalists will be provided with all current information on the fairs. They may also get their accreditations there if they have not previously done so on GR’s website.

More on the events: www.ljubljanafair.com

Sep 23, 2008

A true feast for the eyes

Parallel events, the Codelli Vintage Vehicles Festival and the Antiquity and Fine Art 2008 exhibition, organized by the Slovenian Society of Gallery Owners and Antiquarians stirred up a lot of interest among exhibitors and visitors alike during the National General Election weekend (20 and 21 September). The two combined events covered 6648 square meters of internal and 7400 square meters of external exhibition space and hosted 50 exhibitors from four countries. More than 5000 visitors took a tour of the cultural heritage of Slovenia over the course of two days.

The festival is named after baron Anton Codelli, famous inventor and first automobile owner in our part of the world. The Mercedes – Benz Club of Slovenia, displaying its exhibits in the Jurček pavilion, issued a special postage stamp commemorating the 110th anniversary of the first automobile arriving to Slovenia. Stamp designer Andrej Vidmar (Studio Alias) used an image of the Benz Velo Comfortable vehicle from 1898 as used by the young baron on his trip to Ljubljana on 15 November that same year. The self-adhesive stamp with a nominal value of C was printed in an impression of 1020 pieces. Baron Codelli’s inventive genius was presented at the 2nd Festival through a selection of unique photographic material from a period between 1911 and 1914, when the baron was constructing the first wireless telegraph station with two Ljubljana colleagues in the German colony of Togo in Western Africa. The selection is a part of a traveling exhibition of the Ethnographic Museum of Slovenia.

This year, the 2nd Codelli Festival of Vintage Vehicles showcased personal and other vintage vehicles, motorcycles, farming and military vehicles, none of which was less that 30 years old. Approximately 300 exhibits were displayed, of which 170 were motorcycles and bicycles, 10 tractors and 90 automobiles. An exceptional collection of vintage Mercedes vehicles (15) dominated the Jurček pavilion (E) and a selection of pre-war Fords (8) was exhibited in the Cupola hall (A) and the Cube (A 2). There were approximately 30 pre-war automobiles present at the fair, counting in those which were brought to the plateau in front of the GR Cupola. Plečnik’s motorcycle was already exhibited at last year’s first festival. There were a few especially precious pearls at the Festival: an Aston Martin made in 1967 (seen in James Bond 007 films, valued at over 100.000 EUR), a Daimler Barker Cabriolet (1951) and a Mercedes Benz 290 Cabriolet B from the Kroepfl private museum in Austria and an Austin Seven Special from 1938, which was until recently used at competitions in England. The oldest automobile at the Festival was a Ford T Speedster from 1911. The exceptionally well preserved old-timer was exhibited at the exhibition space of Oldtimer Club Škofljica. Another special exhibit was a Puch motorcycle from the Vransko Motorcycle Museum, a 1911 Norton Manx 500 in perfect drivable condition, given as a gift to guard member and racer Barborič by Josip Broz. A special place among motorcycles was given to a Horex Regina, which has been taking part in the infamous race at Ljubelj for over ten years. It was exhibited just as it was at the end of the race on 14 September 2008. The motorcycle is driven by 74 year old Mr. Albin Šturm, who received a trophy as the oldest participant of the Ljubelj race. Vintage vehicles on exhibit were supplemented by an exhibition of photographs by Blaž Zupančič titled Tin Heritage. The author has exhibited his images in Ljubljana, Graz, Salzburg, Paris and Munich, where he received the Rodenstock company award this year.

The Gallery of the Cupola hall hosted a sales exhibition of the Slovenian Society of Gallery Owners and Antiquarians titled Antiquity and Fine Art 2008. Exhibited pieces of 17 exhibitors included works of Rihard Jakopič, Zoran Mušič, Marija Lucija Stupica, statues, clocks, porcelain, rugs, silverware and other valuables.

Both events were supplemented by a rich accompanying program. The Festival was opened on Saturday 20 September at noon by the Mayor of Ljubljana and honored by a performance of Janez Škof and musical group Čompe. After the performance, a cozy atmosphere was assured by Moto Club MAK Vodice and representatives of the Vodice municipality. On Sunday afternoon the GR became the finish area of the 18th Slovenia Classic Marathon, organized by the Codelli Society of Classic and Sports Vehicle Enthusiasts. A musical performance of the Secondary Musical School of Ljubljana accompanied the award ceremony for the winners of the three-day marathon, taking participants to Banovci and back.

There were many more specialties and exhibits to be seen, there was an exhibition of antique radios, vintage bicycles (100), a railway collection of vintage railway vehicles, a locomobile and a display of sandblasting and restoration of automobiles.

The two day event took place on 20 and 21 September and was opened from 10:00 to 18:00 and was especially aimed at cultural and technical heritage enthusiasts, young families and senior citizens. Entrance fees were charged at 5 and 3 EUR. Great numbers of visitors proved that the event was indeed a welcome sight. See you next year.

Jun 6, 2008

Winners of the 54th International Wine and Spirits Competition have been announced

The truth about wine and spirits, which was sought after in the last days of May and beginning of June at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress Centre during the 54th International Wine and Spirits Competition has finally been found. 24 samples of spirits from five countries have been assessed by five tasters this year. The title of world champion among spirits was awarded to Fructal d.d. from Slovenia and Zenit d.o.o. Čuprija from Serbia. 61 wine tasters took part in the oldest wine competition in the world and chose as many as three Slovene wines for the title of world champion from 578 samples form 19 countries. The award ceremony will be held on June 12th at 20.00 hours at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress centre. More information on the event: www.vino-ljubljana.com


WORLD CHAMPION WINES

• White dry wines

Sauvignon Pullus, 2007
PTUJSKA KLET d.o.o., Slovenia

• White dry wines with remnants of sugar
Rumeni Muškat (Yellow Muscat), special natural wine of superior quality from dried grapes, 2004
PRUS JOŽEF, Slovenia

• Red dry wines

CCC Syrah, 2005
La Bodega de Alboloduy, s.l., Spain

• Sparkling wines

Rose sparkling wine 2006
PTUJSKA KLET d.o.o., Slovenia


SLOVENIAN CHAMPION WINES

Rumeni Muškat (Yellow Muscat), special natural wine of superior quality from dried grapes, 2004
PRUS JOŽEF, Slovenia


GRAND GOLD MEDALS

Rumeni Muškat (Yellow Muscat), special natural wine of superior quality from dried grapes, 2004
PRUS JOŽEF, Slovenia

Muskat Ottonel, 2006
FINK HERMANN, Austria

Traminac (Traminer) ice wine, 2003
Kutjevo d.d., Croatia


TSUKAMOTO TROPHY

• Bouza Tannat Parcela Unica, 2004
CHACRAS DEL SUR S.A., Uruguay


VINO FED FEDERATION AWARD

• Capris cabernet sauvignon, 2005
VINAKOPER d.o.o., Slovenia

SLOVENE SORT CHAMPIONS


CHARDONNAY
Chardonnay archive selection, 1995
VINO BREŽICE d.d., Brežice

YELLOW MUSCAT
Rumeni Muškat (Yellow Muscat), special natural wine of superior quality from dried grapes, 2004
PRUS JOŽEF, Metlika

SAUVIGNON
Sauvignon Pullus, 2007
PTUJSKA KLET d.o.o., Ptuj

TRAMINER
Traminer wine from dried grapes, 2007
LIDIJA MAVRETIČ, Metlika


CHAMPIONS OF SLOVENE WINE REGIONS


• KRAS
Carsus, 2001, cat. 3/21
ŠTOKA PRIMOŽ

• SLOVENE ISTRIA
Capo d'Istra shiraz, 2006, cat. 3/21
VINAKOPER d.o.o.

• ŠTAJERSKA REGION
Probus-Pinot Gris-selection, 2001, cat. 1/04
VINOGRADNIŠTVO ŽELEZNIK

• VIPAVA VALLEY
Merlot, 2004, cat. 3/21
VINA DORNBERG d.o.o.


WINNER OF SLOVENE WINE SPECIALTIES

VINAKRAS z.o.o. SEŽANA
Teranton, 2003

WORLD CHAMPIONS OF SPIRITS

Prior Viljamovka (Pear brandy)
FRUCTAL d.d., Slovenia


Specialna rakija od suhog grožđa sa dodatkom glogovog cveta (special brandy with an addition of hawthorn blossom)
ZENIT d.o.o. Čuprija, Serbia

May 28, 2008

Searching for the best at the Vino Ljubljana 2008 international wine competition

Ljubljana, 27 May 2008 - Today marks the opening of the 54th International Wine and Spirits Competition at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. The event comprises of the international spirits tasting (28 – 29 May 2008) and the international wine tasting (30 May - 2 June 2008). Spirits – 24 samples from five countries – will be judged by five tasters from Slovenia and Serbia, while wine samples will be judged by 24 foreign and 37 domestic tasters. Wine tasters - 15 of which are taking part in the competition for the first time – are coming from 19 countries and will sample 580 wines from 19 countries. The Jurček pavilion will host the award ceremony on 12 June, where winners will be announced and receive medals and diplomas.

Vino Ljubljana is one of the 10 foremost wine competitions in the world and has since its inception enjoyed full sponsorship of all three most important world organizations for sensory analysis of wine. These are: OIV – International Organization of Wine and Vine from Paris, France (since 1955), UIE – International Association of Enologists from Paris, France (since 1980), VinoFed – Global organization of international wine and spirits competitions from Montreal, Canada (since 1994). An esteemed sponsor of the Vino Ljubljana 2008 event is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food.

Vino Ljubljana is organized according to OIV rules. Total anonymity of individual samples is assured, while they are evaluated by renowned tasters through the most modern of procedures. Wines are assessed through a 100 point method proposed by OIV, UICE and VinoFed. The points method is further expanded by descriptive assessments of all parameters of wine (by profiling separate wine parameters and aroma descriptors). Special computer software is used to assess wines. Tasters are obliged to fulfill all three phases of evaluation. Approximately 70 percent of samples at the Ljubljana wine competition come from abroad and about 30 percent are domestic.

The following awards will be given to the best wine and spirits samples at the award ceremony on 12 June:

- from the international spirits competition – two champions,
- from the international wine competition – world champions, Slovene champion, region champions, Slovene sort champions, VinoFed trophies, Tsukamoto Akos Asvany, winner of Slovene wine specialty and the Grand gold medal.

The Vino Ljubljana competition has been conducted since 1955 and is currently the oldest international wine competition in the world. Let us not forget that Ljubljana has been a city of wines and vines and an important centre of wine trade since the middle ages. The first tasting of wines from Illyria took place in 1811 with the first wine show in 1926 at the Ljubljana Fair as part of the Ljubljana in Autumn event. The predecessor of the current event was the first Yugoslavian wine show in 1954. In 1976 Ljubljana hosted the general assembly of OIV and the first international wine competition under OIV rules. Since 1990 the winners of medals and awards in Ljubljana can use them for promotion in European Union countries.

We invite you to arrange a visit at the 54th International Wine Competition on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday from 9.00 to 13.00. Please arrange your visit with Ms. Marjana Lavrič, Public Relations Manager at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress Centre: 01 300 26 26, 041 236 912; marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si. More information on the event: www.vino-ljubljana.com

Mar 17, 2008

15th Calendar of Proceedings with fringe events

Dear Madams and Sirs,

enclosed please find the 15^th Calendar of Proceedings with fringe events.

15th Calendar of Proceedings with fringe events (.doc)

Mar 9, 2008

47. international Dom fair visited by a record 52,000 people

From Tuesday March 4th to Sunday March 9th 2008, the GR fairgrounds hosted the 47th international DOM (Home) fair under a common motto New dimensions of your home. 555 companies from 26 countries exhibited their offer on 17,000 m2 of exhibition space. This year, special emphasis was given to the promotion of prefabricated construction, which was presented in a common exhibit by members of the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses.

The Dom (home) fair, one of the largest and most visited events at GR, is an international fair of products and services in the field of construction. Rich supporting program was prepared by the Wood Economy association at the National Chamber of Commerce, the ZRMK Construction Institute with energy consulting for visitors without charge and the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses at the National Chamber of Commerce with lectures under a common title Quality of living with wood.

This year the Wood Economy Association at the National Chamber of Commerce and Gospodarsko Razstavišče fairgrounds traditionally awarded prizes for the best joinery products called Star of Europe. This year's award STAR OF EUROPE winners are:

• for the program of interior joinery - the LIP BLED d.o.o. company for their Kitzbühel fireproof door product
• for the program of exterior joinery – the INLES d.d. company for their energy efficient wooden window product ISO 68.

Tha fair was seen by 52,000 visitors, more than ever before. Each visitor receive a GR fair catalog with a list of exhibitors, which served as a guide to the fairgrounds and accompanying events.

More information at: www.gr-sejem.si; Marjana Lavrič, Public Relations Manager (Mobile phone no. 041 236 912, e-mail: marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si)

Feb 29, 2008

New dimensions of your home

47. international DOM (Home) fair, Gospodarsko Razstavišče fairgrounds Ljubljana (4 - 9 March 2008):

From Tuesday March 4^th to Sunday March 9^th 2008, the Gospodarsko Razstavišče fairgrounds will open its doors to visitors of the 47th international DOM (Home) fair under a common motto "New dimensions of your home". This year, 555 companies from 26 countries will exhibit their offer on 17,000 m2 of exhibition space. As the number of exhibitors has grown since last year, we set up two extra halls on the GR plateau along the Dunajska street. As on many years before, the fairgrounds are completely sold out.  This year special attention was given to the promotion of prefabricated construction, which will be presented in a common exhibit by members of the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses.

The Home fair is one of the largest and most visited events at GR, it is an international fair of construction which showcases offers in joinery, internal design, decorations for your home and garden, cooling and heating equipment, building materials and products and products for technical protection, style and extra spirit in your home.  The exhibition is accompanied with a varied program, aimed not only at the professional public but at all visitors. Organizers prepared the accompanying events in cooperation with the Wood Economy association at the National Chamber of Commerce, the ZRMK Construction Institute and the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses at the National Chamber of Commerce. The ZRMK Construction Institute will offer consulting on home energy free of charge every day from 10:00 to 18:00 in the Galerija hall.  Talks will be held about efficient energy consumption, modernizations of energy systems, the use of heat pumps, low energy and passive houses, heat insulation, modern fossil fuel applications and other topics. The Kupola (A) hall will host lectures of the Section of Slovene Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses titled The quality of residing with wood every day.  Presentations will include the topics of planning a prefabricated passive building, passive homes, earthquake safety and energy consumption of prefabricated homes.
The Wood Economy association will organize lectures in the Urška lecture halls every morning from Wednesday to Friday (4 - 7 March). To list only a few titles: Purchase behaviour of prefabricated home buyers, Environmental adequacy and efficiency of wood-fired heating installations, Fire safety of wood and wooden constructions, Assurance of wood and wood product quality in construction, etc.  
Each year the Wood Economy Association at the National Chamber of Commerce and Gospodarsko Razstavišče fairgrounds traditionally give awards for the best joinery products called Star of Europe. Two equivalent prizes are given to products from the internal and external joinery categories. Prizes will be presented at the opening ceremony of the fair, which will be opened by Minister of Economy Andrej Vizjak.
The GR fairgrounds expect over 50,000 visitors, as many as last year when the fair hosted 486 companies from 26 countries. Each visitor shall receive a GR fair catalog, which is intended as a guide to the fairgrounds and accompanying events. The catalog also contains a list of short presentations of each individual exhibitor.
The fair is open from March 4^th to March 9^th from 9.30 to 19.30. On the last day, March 9th, the fair closes at 18.00. Ticket prices are 6 EUR for adults, 5 EUR for children and youths 7-16 years of age, students and retired persons, entry for children up to the age of 7, disabled persons and their assistants is free of charge.

More information at: www.gr-sejem.si; Marjana Lavrič, Public Relations Manager (Mobile phone no. 041 236 912, e-mail: marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si)

Jan 24, 2008

Find everything you need for tourism and leisure at GR

The fair, which has this year brought together all entities featured in the field of tourism, offers a wide range of holidays, cooking, camping & caravanning, boats, holiday campers, mobile homes and camping equipment. The wealthy range of extra-fair activities offers plenty of opportunities to exchange information between sellers, service providers and consumers. The event is taking place over an area of 13.000 square metres of exhibition space, featuring 542 companies from 25 countries. The fair, where organisers expect more than 30.000 visitors over the course of four days (24 – 27 January, 2008), is open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The largest fair event to date in Slovenia entitled Choose your direction! this time brings together for the first time ever tourism's entire range of services and ideas to spend your free time. In addition to Simex, the 2nd corporate tourism exchange (24 –25 January, 2008), organised by the Slovenian Convention Bureau, which is of an exclusive nature, the event also features the following:

- Tourism and Leisure – a guide through the tourism offering, a guide to experiencing Slovenia and getting to know the world; organised by GR, including partners;
- 4th Boat Salon – a salon of smaller sports and tourist vessels, organised by GR;
- 5th Camping & Caravanning Festival – a festival of the entire range of holiday vehicles and camping equipment on offer; organised by As-press.

Simex, which acts as the meeting point for the most prominent representatives of the convention industry, conference, seminar and congress organisers, this year also features, in addition to local companies, 49 invited companies from 18 different countries. The goal of the entire fair, including Simex (short for the Slovenian Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events), is to transcend local boundaries and fill the market niche in the wider international arena.

The Tourism and Leisure fair, which evolved from the current Holiday Fair, is a new, joint event for everyone working in tourism. It has been endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestries and Food, the Tourist Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Tourist Organisation (STO), which is presenting Slovenia's local attractions within the scope of the project Na lepše! (Stepping out!) (www.slovenia.info). STO is also presenting two other important innovative and creative projects: an interactive presentation of Slovenia for the youth population – web portal Play and Get to Know Slovenia and Bank of Slovenia's Tourist Opportunities, the first online juncture of supply and demand in the field of innovation and other fields within Slovenian tourism. The fair features a special exhibition of protected agricultural products or foods. It is set to acquaint visitors with the contents, significance and type of labelling of protected produce or foods, namely agricultural products or foods with protected designation of origin and geographic denomination, i.e. those which are more or less linked with the region they are named after. Also on show will be produce and foods carrying a denomination of guaranteed traditional speciality or superior quality. The scope of presentation of local wines and wines in the quality wines class features winemakers as the follow-on of the My Wine project. The above food and wine will be available for tasting and purchase at the fair itself. The fair further features all of Slovenia’s natural spas.

The Camping and Caravanning Festival, which this year moved from the natural surroundings of camp Ljubljana Resort to the Ljubljana Exhibition and Conference Centre, features over 200 companies. The most comprehensive offer is provided by our own Adria Mobil, German Hymer and the French company Rapido. Among the first officially presented brands in Slovenia are the prestigious Concorde and Niesmann+Bischoff, Benimar, Caravelair, X-GO and Poessl. The Festival is the only opportunity to see practically the whole range of holiday vehicles available in Slovenia in one place: 105 mobile homes, holiday trailers and mobile houses through 35 particularly foreign brands, which is complemented by a diverse offer of vehicle accessories, camping equipment, including technical and travel literature.

The first-ever Boat Salon was organised by GR in 2005, and the event is a spin-off of the once eminent Alpe-Adria fair and the later Holiday Fair. In addition to sellers of smaller boats, this fair will also feature providers of nautical equipment and services from Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia, who have become traditional participants of the event. Nautical-related activities and providers of equipment and services complementing nautical tourism will also be on show. The event will see the debut display of the boat produced by company IVA d.o.o., Odin 820 Nova, which combines the features of a sailing boat, a motor boat and a yacht without frontiers, which feels at home in any waters, including the novelty of the Izola Boat Fair, the exclusive wooden yacht FEATHER 14 by company Azimut d.o.o.

The organisers are hoping to use this holistic tourism and leisure offering to raise the profile of the local tourist and culinary offer. The joint slogan of the even, Choose your direction! is therefore trying to convey that every visitor can find an offer accommodating their budget, be it for a short or longer stay, home or abroad, on a boat or on wheels, in a hotel, spa or camp. Furthermore, the Fair seeks to become the juncture of West and South-Eastern Europe in terms of supply and demand in the industry as the biggest of its kind in SE Europe. Entry is free of charge and visitors are also given a free Fair catalogue.

More information on the events is available at: www.gr-sejem.si
___________________________________________________________________
Gospodarsko razstavišče, d.o.o., Marjana Lavrič, PR Manager; marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si, 01 300 26 26, 041 236 912

Jan 24, 2008

Find everything you need for tourism and leisure at GR

The fair event organised by the Ljubljana Exhibition ad Conference Centre under the joint name of Choose your direction! sees all entities from the field of tourism and leisure in Slovenia come together for the first time, bringing together as many as four previously independent fairs to make it the biggest event of its kind. The fair was officially opened by Marjan Hribar, director of the Directorate for Tourism at the Ministry of the Economy, while other speakers at the opening of the event included Ante Madjar, director of the Ljubljana Conference and Exhibition Centre, Zoran Jankovič, mayor of the city of Ljubljana, and Dimitrij Piciga, director of the Slovenian Tourist Organisation.

From 24 to 27 January, visitors will be able to visit the following events from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (entry is free of charge):
• Simex, the Slovenian Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events (up to 25 January, 2008)
• Tourism and Leisure, presenting Slovenia and 12 European countries, a guide through the tourist offering both home and abroad
• The Camping & Caravanning Festival, a festival of the entire range of holiday vehicles and camping equipment on offer
• Boat Salon, a salon of smaller sports and tourist vessels.

13.000 square metres of exhibition space will feature as many as 542 companies from 25 countries. Visitors will be able to get a closer look at the wide range of holidays on offer both home and abroad, together with culinary offerings, boats, holiday trailers, mobile homes, camping equipment etc. The aim of the event is to attract as many visitors as possible – over 30.000 are expected – , who are able to choose their direction in order to suit their budget, the length of their stay, either home or abroad, be it in the sky, on the tracks, on the water or on the road. Obviously, the purpose of the event, particularly at the time of Slovenia presiding over the European Union, to transcend local boundaries and fill the market niche in the wider international arena as well.

More information on the events is available at: www.gr-sejem.si
___________________________________________________________________
Gospodarsko razstavišče, d.o.o., Marjana Lavrič, PR Manager; marjana.lavric@gr-sejem.si, 01 300 26 26, 041 236 912

Individual events contacts

Tevž KORENT (Tourism and Leisure): 051 307 548

Primož LONGYKA (Camping & Caravanning Festival): 041 344 587

Urška BOŽIČ (Boat Salon): 041 585 402

Dec 19, 2007

Choose your direction

A holistic tourist and leisure offering – the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (24.–27. 1. 2008)

Ljubljana, 19. 12 2007 – Choose your direction! That's the uniting motto behind the event, which this time includes as many as four fairs and one exchange for the first time, featuring Tourism and Leisure, Wine and Food, the Camping&Caravaning Festival, the Boating Salon and Simex, the Corporate Tourism Exchange. The event, which is set to feature more than 200 exhibitors on over 8000 m2 of exhibition space, the organisers are expecting around 30.000 visitors. There is no entrance fee.

The fair Tourism and Leisure, which evolved from the previous Holiday Fair, is a new, joint event for everyone working in tourism. It has been endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestries and Food, The Tourist Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Tourism Organisation, which presenting Slovenia's local attractions within the scope of the project Na lepše! (Stepping out!) (www.slovenia.info). The fair features a special exhibition of protected agricultural products or foods. It is set to acquaint visitors with the contents, significance and type of labelling of protected produce or foods, namely agricultural products or foods with protected designation of origin and geographic denomination, i.e. those which are more or less linked with the region they are named after. Also on show will be produce and foods carrying a denomination of guaranteed traditional speciality or superior quality. The scope of presentation of local wines and wines in the quality wines class features winemakers as the follow-on of the My Wine project. The above food and wine will be available for tasting and purchase at the fair itself.

Since we Slovenes love to discover the world, treasures of foreign cities, regions and countries, the fair will feature the tourist services on offer in 12 countries, with the featured partners worth mentioning this time around including Turkey and Macedonia. Presenting its supply and demand side of business tourism is also the 2nd Slovenian Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events (www.simex.si), which is being organised on behalf of the Institute-Slovenian Convention Bureau by GR with its partners and is intended particularly for the expert public.

The 5th Camping and Caravanning Festival 2008 is set to move from its current outdoor location to the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre for the long term. Despite having more exhibition space intended for holiday vehicles, i.e. mobile homes, caravans and mobile houses, the entire exhibition space is already sold out. 5000 m2 of space is set to feature 50 exhibitors – including over 200 of represented companies – the entire range of providers of this type of equipment on the Slovenian market, as this is the most extensive presentation of its kind in Slovenia. They are set to present over 100 of the newest models of mobile homes and holiday caravans of 32 European manufacturers, including some prestigious ones, whose value exceeds 200.000 euros. Also on view and on sale will be all the additional equipment for these types of vehicles, camping gear, mountaineering and recreational equipment, bikes, scooters, travel literature and presentations of local and foreign campsites. The festival is also set to feature prizes: each day of the event, the organisers will dish out a one-week Spring family holiday. The prize winners will be able to choose amongst 87 different destinations from around Europe.


He first-ever Boat Salon was organised by GR in 2005, and the event is a spin-off of the once eminent Alpe-Adria fair and the later Holiday Fair. In addition to sellers of smaller boats, this fair will also feature providers of nautical equipment and services from Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia, who have become traditional participants of the event. Nautical-related activities and providers of equipment and services complementing nautical tourism will also be on show. The organisers of the Boat Salon are convinced that the event will attract a large number of visitors, while at the same time the event will be a real opportunity for brokering deals and breaking through into the corporate world of nautical tourism.


The organisers look to use this holistic tourism and leisure offering to make the general public aware of the meaning of tourism and achieve a higher level of recognition of the local tourism and culinary offer, present destinations around the world together with their characteristics, while at the same time take advantage of the fair as an event in the capital of the EU at the beginning of our country’s presidency over the Union, thereby attracting attention of foreign interest groups.

More on our events: www.gr-sejem.si
___________________________________________________________________
Gospodarsko razstavišče, d.o.o., Marjana Lavrič, PR Manager (01 300 26 26, 041 236 912)

Nov 23, 2007

Coming up Gibanje in šport 2007

The Gibanje in šport Fair (Exercise and Sport Fair) is meeting point for professional sportsmen and sportswomen, manufacturers, their representatives, business contacts from the world of sport and not least those who like exercise.

Nov 11, 2007

The largest furniture fair to now

On Sunday evening the gates closed on the 18th Ljubljana Furniture Fair, which by the size and number of exhibitors was the largest to now. At the fair, which was held in all totally occupied GR halls and on the pavement of the specially erected City hall, 309 companies from 23 countries exhibited. The best products were awarded prizes. The exhibitions of furniture were accompanied by other events. 50,000 visitors were attracted to the picture of the Slovenian furniture industry over the six days.
With the motto The Revolution Continues, GR especially wanted to present design as the exceptional advantage of quality products of the Slovenian furniture industry, which they want to get into the higher price classes on foreign and domestic markets, thus continuing the orientation set last year. The most awards, three, were awarded to the company for interior equipment and advice, DONAR d.o.o. from Ljubljana. Along with the prize Matej Feguš, the company’s managing director, received at the Ljubljana Furniture Fair in 2001 and 2002, this year were added the first prize and sculpture Zlata vez (Golden Band) for the working chair Na me, designed by Feguš&Komek. For the lamp Leaf designed by Yves Bemer, Feguš also received the Top Ten award and as best out of 10 the Top of the Top.