image by Mark Gregory
Iceland is to tourism what kale is to vegetables. Both bit players in their respective worlds until the twenty tens, when they appeared to explode organically in popularity. In truth, their ascendancy was choreographed by clever and immersive green and healthy marketing. But nonetheless, their imprimatur has dominated the decade like Wall Street’s bull run. As we approach 2020, every decade has their darling. What will people “discover” next year? This story is a bit personal.
After the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, leaders in Yugoslavia invited a select group of people involved in television, marketing, sponsorship, sports, tourism, and the culinary arts to visit their country and the Olympic sites to advise them on how to capitalize on their sizable investment to create a thriving tourist destination. As the youngest member of the delegation, I was honored to be chosen
Beautiful Country, Warm People
A red-carpet welcome greeted us in every town. In Sarajevo, we toured the venues, skied Mount Jahorina, and enjoyed eight-fork banquets, in the storybook town of Mostar, we posed on its fabled bridge and sampled the local fare, while we marveled at the massive stone walls in Dubrovnik, and were gobsmacked by Old Town and the hidden gems in the palaces. There was even a communist spy who clumsily followed us all five days. To the person, we were enchanted, engaged and dedicated to their success.
Horrific Civil War
Less than a decade later, in 1992, the ten-day war, the siege of Sarajevo and the ensuing bloody civil war, devastated the country. Venues, villages and towns we cherished were reduced to rubble. We prayed for the safety of our hosts and guides and their families. The signing of the Dayton Accords, in November 1995 effectively ended the war, but the aftermath was equally as gut wrenching.
The countries which emerged after the breakup of the FM Yugoslavia were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. While some of their national treasures have been resurrected others have not. However, Slovenia, with a trove of natural treasures, has recently been recognized as the greenest destination on the planet.
Slovenia, The World’s Greenest Destination
Every year in Berlin, the ITB, the world’s largest travel trade show, announces the top sustainable destinations on the globe, as determined by an international jury of twelve organizations. In 2018, Slovenia’s cities Ljubljana and Podcetrtek along with the entire country were named #1 in Europe https://greendestinations.org/best-of-top100-awards/ and in 2019 Ljubljana led the list of best cities, and Bled was the second greenest destination in Europe. This is an amazing achievement for this small country. Frankly, Slovenia can become the top destination for eco- adventure travel among Americans with savvy marketing, powerful story-telling and creative partnerships. Any bets on celery?
