Maribor recently hosted the 4th Maribor Tourism Forum at the Slovenian National Theatre in Maribor, organised by the Maribor Tourist Board. This year, the city celebrated the title of the Best Green Capital of Europe 2025 by the European Best Destinations selection. The city, where the forests of Pohorje and the city’s vineyards flirt across the Drava river, is investing heavily in the revitalisation of public spaces, community connectivity, cultural programs and green mobility. Eight speakers and more than 130 participants from the tourism industry, and destination organisations from all over Slovenia reflected on how to develop a city with a satisfied, vibrant and hospitable local community in advance.
Maribor Manifesto – Community and Residents First
The Director of the Maribor Tourist Board, Jure Struc, presented the results of 2024 and reflected on the Maribor Manifesto for the future. He emphasised that the infrastructure, city offerings and event calendar are primarily developed for residents. This is a prerequisite for a healthy destination that also inspires visitors. Anna Pollock, strategist and coach, Conscious Travel, Great Britain, reflected on the fact that destinations need a radical rethink of how to operate and cooperate with the local environment and listen to it. Growth without a plan and vision for development is not a recipe for healthy tourism and a satisfied community.
Marina Ferfolja, Head of Analytics and Sustainable Development from the Slovenian Tourist Board, spoke about the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism for the next decade. Doc. Rok Žnidaršič from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana and the architectural studio Medprostor, which is responsible for the largest regenerative project in Maribor in recent times, the major renovation of Rotovž with the new City Library, the Maribor Art Gallery, the city cinema and the intergenerational centre, spoke about the long-awaited cultural and social centre, revitalisation and new use of space in the city.
Roundtable: Tourism at a Turning Point
The roundtable brought together speakers from different fields, each of whom is involved in a city or destination’s partner network in their own way. Gorazd Čad, founder of the Toleranca Marketing agency, which developed the Planet Positive tool for sustainable event assessment, and co-founder of Conventa, highlighted the organisers’ interest in intersectoral connections with science, culture, and creative industries from the perspective of the meetings industry. Vasja Ilešič, CEO of Pohorje Village Wellbeing Resort, emphasised that their business vision is the tourism of the future in harmony with nature and community. Ksenija Repina, director of the Maribor Puppet Theatre, believes that only authentic stories, such as the Minoriti Cultural Quarter in the triangle between the Drava River, the market, and the city centre, leave a mark because they are not made for tourism, but grow from the local space. Katja Sreš, president of the Ecologists Without Borders association, praised Maribor as the municipality with the most events on the Zero Waste path and with the first and only Zero Waste café in Slovenia.
Jure Struc, director of the Maribor Tourist Board, is convinced that tourism cannot succeed with solo campaigns but only in cooperation with the community, culture, sports, mobility and other support services. He sees Maribor as a city of the future – because it is accessible, safe, healthy and hospitable.
Source: Maribor Tourist Board
