Celebrate 20 years of Slovenian independence

Come experience your ancestral home

A jubilee year invitation to Slovenians and their descendants around the world

In 2011 the Republic of Slovenia will be celebrating 20 years since its declaration of national independence. Pride in the achievements of independent Slovenia will also be reflected during 2011 in the tourism sector: special events, adoption of new visions for development and, no less importantly, fun and socialising with friends of Slovenia from all over the world. And a very special part in these gatherings will be played by Slovenian expatriates and their descendants. The biggest such gathering in Slovenian territory is planned for early July.

   

TOURIST PACKAGES AND SPECIAL OFFERS FOR EXPATRIATES
The Slovenian Tourist board plans to make it easier for Slovenians, their descendants and friends to visit Slovenia, through numerous special offers and discounts. To ensure that Slovenians, their descendants and friends throughout the world know about these offers, details are posted on the website www.slovenia.info/homecoming. The website, which posts special tourist deals and packages for expatriates, emigrants and their nearest and dearest, is also planned as a forum for impressions and memories of their original family homeland. The Slovenian Tourist Board has put together the special packages in cooperation with a range of tour operators, and will be continuously updating them.    

“The “Homecoming” project is part of our celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Slovenian independence, which we are organising together with the Slovenian Government Communication Office and the Office for Slovenians Abroad. In this light we are seeking to attract to Slovenia as many Slovenians as possible living around the world, their relatives, descendants and friends, since visiting the original homeland together with children or grandchildren is a truly unforgettable experience. In 2011 this will be even more special, since many events are designed for socialising, and for getting to know Slovenia and its heritage”, said Maja Pak, acting Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board, regarding project preparations.

DIFFERENT PATHS TO SLOVENIAN PEOPLE
At the crossroads of the Romance, Germanic and Slavic cultures in Europe, and throughout a turbulent history involving various country and state formations, followed most recently by decades of distinctly open borders, the Slovenians have remained a surprisingly homogeneous national community, one with members beyond the national borders and on other continents. In recent years there has been growing interest among expatriates in visiting Slovenia. Summer Slovenian language schools and the like are becoming increasingly popular. So any of you that have not yet visited the land of your forefathers will have even more reason to do so in 2011, and you will be updated and reminded of Slovenia and its major milestones in several different places.

Alongside the website www.slovenia.info/homecoming, which will feature various interactive sections and rewards, expatriates and emigrants will be invited to visit Slovenia through various social networks (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare), through direct communication (e-mails and notifications) and at other Slovenian tourism promotions (fairs and similar).

In two decades of independence Slovenia has passed a number of developmental milestones: since May 1992 it has been a member of the UN, since 2004 a Member State of the European Union and the NATO alliance, since 2007 Slovenia’s official currency has been the euro, and in 2008 Slovenia held the European Union Presidency. Slovenia, once a republic of the former Yugoslav federation, is now a democratic republic. It is a state of all its citizens, founded on the permanent and inalienable right of the Slovenian nation to self-determination. This right was fulfilled on 25 June 1991, when the Slovenian parliament adopted the Constitutional Act Implementing the Basic Constitutional Charter on the Independence and Sovereignty of the Republic of Slovenia, the Declaration of Independence and a number of related laws. 

More information from:
dr. Nataša Slak Valek
Foreign Public Relations
Slovenian Tourist Board
Dimičeva 13, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel. +386 1 5898 550, Fax: +386 1 5898 560
www.slovenia.info
e-mail: natasa.slak@slovenia.info