Title – Name
Soča Evergreen
Scope / Sector / Industry
Overtourism management strategy
Country / Region
Slovenia, Soča Valley
Why is it good practice?
The Soča Valley is an excellent example of effective management of a popular rural tourist destination, as it adopts a holistic and strategic approach that sustainably exploits both the natural and cultural resources of the area, creating experiences tailored to different groups of visitors. Through the Soča Evergreen strategy, the development of tourism is promoted throughout the year, which reduces seasonality and strengthens the economic resilience of local communities, while ensuring the protection of the natural environment and enhancing the environmental awareness of visitors. The management integrates alternative forms of tourism, such as rafting, canoe-kayak and hiking, linking entertainment with the promotion of local heritage and tradition. In addition, close cooperation between municipalities, local authorities and businesses ensures coordinated development, high quality services and efficient organization. Through this coherent and multidimensional approach, the Soča Valley emerges as a model of sustainable development of mountain regions, harmoniously combining environmental protection, social well-being and economic progress.
How is it applied?
The Soča Valley in Slovenia is a popular destination for tourists seeking mountain scenery and outdoor activities. However, in recent years it has suffered from overtourism, with visitors reaching 30,000 daily during the tourist season, while the population of the region and neighboring municipalities is only 18,000. Although the region welcomes visitors all year round, the Soča Valley faces a strong seasonality problem, with 87% of arrivals and overnight stays recorded between May and September. Overtourism causes damage to natural ecosystems, while strong seasonality makes the tourism sector dependent on summer and outdoor sports activities, making it less resilient to potential changes, especially due to the effects of climate change.
Other problems that the Soča Valley is facing in recent years in the tourism sector include a 50–60% reduction in overnight stays, as a result of the post-covid period, and the fragmentation of the destination.
In the above context and in order to limit overtourism and its negative impact on the mountain environment, the Soča Valley set itself the goal of becoming one of the main year-round destinations in the Alps. Thus, in 2020, the “Soča Evergreen” strategy was adopted by the Soča Valley Tourist Board, a Strategy for the Development and Promotion of Tourism in the Soča Valley until 2025+, which provides a framework for sustainable tourism development and concerns the four most visited Municipalities: Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin and Kanal.
The vision of the strategy is to make the Soča Valley the Top All-Year Alpine Destination, providing a wide range of nature and cultural heritage experiences, between the Alps and the Mediterranean. The Valley is described as the “Mediterranean backyard of the Julian Alps”.
The strategy follows an integrated approach and focuses on four main axes:
- Development of 4-season tourism: capitalizing on the main sectors such as water sports and outdoor activities, while also encouraging other forms of tourism such as cultural activities, wellness experiences, gastronomic festivals, etc. At the same time, offers such as weekend and New Year packages have been launched.
- Improving the quality of the tourist experience: prioritizing quality accommodation over mass attendance, extending the length of stay and diversifying the experiences offered. While tourism was a complementary activity, the current strategy aims to professionalize the sector through staff training and maintaining jobs throughout the year.
- Promoting sustainable tourism: limiting traffic in sensitive natural areas, reducing the carbon footprint through the use of public transport and the reduction of private cars, and protecting the natural heritage of the valley.
- Recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic: strengthening the tourism sector and cooperation between stakeholders, implementing new marketing strategies to revitalize activity, and training industry professionals to meet new visitor expectations.
The Sustainable Spatial Model of the strategy is mapped and includes the creation of:
- Tourist Hubs
- Outdoor Points of Interest
- Green Side Valleys and Alpine Meadows
- Long-distance Trails
- The Slovenian Mountain Hiking Trail The Strategic Model then presents 4 priority thematic areas with their expected results, which are summarized as follows:
- Tourist infrastructure: indicatively mentioned the provision for the development of a 50km cycling network, including 1 long-distance path and 3 paths suitable for families, 3 long-distance paths of 300 km. signposted, well-maintained and with GPS support, a common approach to the management of take-off and landing areas for paragliding, upgrading at least 10 public areas of natural and cultural heritage, ensuring tourist information points, establishing systematic monitoring and management of tourists in areas with intense traffic, etc.
- Products and services: indicatively mentioned are the extension of the season with weekend offers, open and off-season activities (kayaking, fishing, etc.) and New Year’s packages, the improvement of cultural tourism programs, the focus on the design of wellness products-services, the creation of a quality certificate “Common Soča Valley/Julian Alps”, the creation of integrated gastronomic products for the whole year and the implementation of an international culinary festival, etc.
- Management: indicatively mentioned are the creation of a providers network “Soča Evergreen Team”, the creation of the single brand “Soča Valley/Julian Alps” with quality certification, the strengthening of the Destination Management Organization & Marketing Organization “Soča Valley Tourist Board”, the creation of the “Soča Evergreen Partnership” platform for networking, including ambassadors, the design of a permanent training program for employees in the tourism sector, the creation of an advisory support system for tourism providers, etc.
- Promotion and marketing: indicatively mentioned are the development of a common reservation and digital promotion system, the implementation of campaigns to target new markets and strengthen the brand, the continuous communication and networking with providers within the destination, but also with its residents with the aim of enhancing hospitality and participation, etc.
It is worth mentioning that the strategy includes maps that detail tourist hubs, trails, parks and routes. Specifically, a map is provided for the development of water sports (with fishing, canoeing, swimming, parking, etc.), paragliding (with take-off, landing points, etc.), cycling (with the types of cycling areas-for families-mountain biking, etc.), hiking (with the routes that have been designed and marked) and a sustainable transportation map (with the available modes of transport such as train, seasonal and non-service buses, hop on-hop off points, etc.).
Finally, regarding the financing of the actions, this comes from the budgets of the participating municipalities, from the Soča Valley Annual Tourism Program, from revenues collected through tourism activities, as well as from Regional and European funds.
In conclusion, the Soča Evergreen strategy is a model of integrated management of mountain tourism, as it successfully combines economic, environmental and social objectives, promoting a balanced and sustainable development of the region. Through an innovative model of cooperation between municipalities, local bodies and businesses, coordination of actions and effective utilization of resources is achieved. At the same time, the strategy seeks to maintain harmony between nature and tourism activity, protecting the natural environment and enhancing the quality of residents life. Finally, it creates a modern and flexible framework that effectively addresses the challenges of seasonality and overtourism, making the Soča Valley an example of a sustainable tourist destination for rural areas at the European level.
Where is it applied?
By implementing the strategy, the goal is to offer experiences for everyone (nature lovers, hikers, adventure enthusiasts, young people, families, etc.) all year round.
When did it applied?
The “Soča Evergreen” strategy was approved in 2020 and has a four-year duration.
Results
The Soča Valley has received several awards and certifications that strengthen its image as a sustainable tourism destination. The following are indicative:
- It was certified with the Slovenia Green Destination Gold label in 2020, as proof that its tourism development is in line with the principles of sustainability.
- It received a gold award at the Golden City Gate Awards competition for a promotional video about the valley.
- The Walk of Peace trail, which crosses the valley, was honored with the Connecting Cultures Award for its contribution to the sustainable tourism experience and the promotion of historical heritage.
- The destination is listed as a good practice in sustainable tourism by the European Network Euromontana in its 2023 edition.
Other information
The official website of the Soča Valley is: https://www.soca-valley.com/