Slovenia to re-direct tourism at country's most popular tourist site

LJUBLJANA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The new tourist authority of Lake Bled, one of Slovenia's most iconic sites, is tabling a plan to ease the pressure of tourism on the small Alpine town, which has become overwhelmed by people flocking to the site, especially during the summer months.

Bled and its emerald lake and famous island, known as the pearl of the Alpine region, has been attracting visitors for centuries.

Over the last few years, however, the numbers of tourist stays in the lakeside resorts have reached record heights. National statistics show that in general, Slovenia's tourism has achieved top figures for the fourth year in a row this year.

The number of tourist stays in Bled is expected to reach one million this year and hotels are fully booked for the year-end holidays, according to Slovene Press Agency reports.

The new head of the Bled tourism board, Tomaz Rogelj, who takes over the position in January, has pledged to focus on re-directing tourist flows to ease the pressure on the small town.

In the following eight-year period, his team will work on a strategy to solve the problems that Bled citizens are facing due to the increasing number of visitors, such as traffic jams and parking shortages.

Long-term plans include the construction of the northern and southern bypass, a new multi-storey car park and additional parking spaces.

In the short term, however, temporary solutions will need to be applied, such as dispersing the visitors across the area by providing more information and logistic services.

It is Rogelj's wish for Bled to continue to offer its visitors top-quality experience by both avoiding mass tourism on the one hand, and providing an elite form of tourism on the other. Enditem