Report on the activities carried out in the field of sustainable development of destination Kočevsko
The destination of Kočevsko prides itself as a green destination for a reason, as almost 90% of the area is covered by forests, and with our efforts to develop a sustainable tourist offer and raise awareness of this, we are further consolidating its green reputation. Here, we present an overview of the activities we carried out in the field of sustainable development between 2020 and 2023.
A green gold destination
In 2020, the destination Kočevsko won the title of a golden destination due to numerous sustainable efforts and activities and is the bearer of the Slovenia GREEN destination GOLD sign. In the same year, the destination was also ranked among the 100 most sustainable destinations in the world "Global TOP 100 Sustainable Destinations", and due to the exceptional story of our destination dedicated to bear watching programs as a method of preserving the brown bear population in Kočevsko, we also won 2nd place at GREEN DESTINATION STORY AWARDS.
To guide the tourist visit and help with independent exploration of the Kočevsko destination, we prepared a system of marking hiking trails with directional boards in the field and tested the traffic regime in the center of Kočevje in 2021. For all visitors to our destination, we have prepared the brochure "Green tips for visiting destination Kočevsko" and also placed these tips on the destination's website.
Camp Jezero Kočevsko and Hostel Bearlog have successfully extended their internationally recognized sustainability certificates - EcoCamping and Travelife, as well as SLOVENIA GREEN ACCOMODATION. At the same time, both accommodations are also friendly to hikers and cyclists. Other providers of our destination were also successful in obtaining internationally recognized sustainability certificates: the accommodation Lovski dom Polom (Green Key) and Cirus Apartments (Travelife) and the attraction Ris Adventure Park (Green Key). Both accommodations also acquired the SLOVENIA GREEN ACCOMODATION sign and Ris Adventure Park acquired the SLOVENIA GREEN ATTRACTION sign.
Digitization, tourism programs and education
In 2021, we started digitizing cultural and natural heritage and, as part of a project co-financed by MGRT, we digitized 15 points in the Krokar Primeval forest, which is also included in the UNESCO list of natural heritage, with the aim of reducing the tendency for unauthorized entry into this protected area of pristine nature. As part of the project, we also digitized Fridrihštajn Castle and developed a product for a guided visit to the remains of the castle and learning about the love story between Veronika and Friderik. The Kostel Castle was also digitized.
We have also trained local tour guides for the guided experience of the Krokar Primeval forest, and in doing so have placed great emphasis on sustainability and responsibility towards nature and its inhabitants, and especially the primeval forest as a fragile ecosystem that we must keep intact and therefore we must also encourage visitors to do so in the right way . We also included content on the topic of sustainability and a responsible attitude towards nature, forests and its inhabitants in the remaining training courses for local tourist guides.
In the period between 2020 and 2023, we have developed 6 new green tourism products for different groups of visitors to Kočevsko: the bicycle product "From the Dragon to the Bear", the family product "Family Forest Fun", photo-observation of the bear, the Krokar Primeval Forest experience with a VR tour of the primeval forest, Experience of the Kostel castle and the Land of Peter Klepec.
In 2022, we also held a course for the training of new tourist guides of destination Kočevsko, in which special emphasis was placed on sustainable aspects. At the end, we thus acquired 10 new destination tourist guides, which now total 45.
In the period between 2020 and 2023, we held numerous trainings on various sustainability topics for providers and stakeholders of our destination, as well as individual visits to providers and a group meet-up. We also regularly inform providers by sending e-mails.
Sustainable mobility
In the field of sustainable mobility, a regular passenger train line between Kočevje and Ljubljana was re-established in 2021, and in 2022, a local arrangement of on-call transportation in the municipality of Kočevje "Toyota GO!" was established. We bought some e-bikes and mountain bikes for rental and took over the management of the public bike rental system KOLU.
In 2021 and 2022, bicycle paths were arranged in the city of Kočevje in a length of 5.3 km within the city, in order to increase the use of bicycles as an alternative to transportation by car.
For the bicycle product "From the Dragon to the Bear", which will also come to life as an event in the future, we laid out a bicycle route from Ljubljana to Kočevje.
Other important activities
In the management of the destination and the development of programs, we also regularly cooperate with local providers and many different institutions (Institute for Forests OE Kočevje, Regional Museum Kočevje, Tourist Association, Institute for Culture and Tourism Kostel, Hunting sites with a special purpose, Hunting associations, tourist guides... ).
For the greater promotion of local products and catering providers, in 2022 we developed the collective brand "O, KOČEVSKO!", where we included top-quality dishes containing local ingredients, as well as many products and handicraft products, thereby encouraging cooperation with local providers. In total, we certified 76 dishes, crops and products, as part of the collective brand O, KOČEVSKO! and now there are already 10 artisans, 13 growers and processors and 4 catering providers. Under the umbrella of O, KOČEVSKO! we will soon launch the »limited selection« line with selected 10 products.
In the center of the town of Kočevje, the sculpture of the local artist Stane Jarm was restored - the statue "Girl with a Whistle" / Deklica s pišalko.
In 2023, the important SO-RI-KO project was completed, with which all residents of the municipalities of Sodražica, Ribnica and Kočevje were guaranteed a reliable supply of safe and healthy drinking water. A total of 68,040 meters of new pipelines, 11 pumping stations, 5 reservoirs and 3 drinking water treatment plants were built.
We regulated the fishing regime on Lake Kočevje and established 15 fishing spots. The cleaning of the lower layers of water in the lake was also carried out in order to ensure the preservation of the landscape and the orderly surroundings of the lake.
You can view the infographic with an overview of the activities carried out at this link.