The Plečnik’s Ljubljana campaign, last year commemorating the 145th anniversary of the birth and the 60th anniversary of the death of the great Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, brought Ljubljana Tourism the Emerging Europe Tourism Campaign of the Year 2018 award.

»The emerging European region has a rich and diverse culture and a no less exciting history; you could travel for years and not see even a fraction of what there is to experience. In such competitive environment tourism campaigns have to really stand out, draw attention and step out of the shadows of other top tourism destinations, such as Paris or Rome. In the emerging European region there are many hidden attractions – many unusual and unique features still remain to be discovered. We were searching for campaigns which would embody this spirit and spread their message in different languages across diverse platforms,« wrote the international jury of the Emerging Europe organisation in its justification of the selection criteria in the Tourism Campaign of the Year category.

Within the framework of promotional activities Ljubljana Tourism developed two new specialised tours of Plečnik’s landmarks, in cooperation with partners it supported two open-air exhibitions on Krakovo Embankment and in Park Tivoli, and it co-financed various other open-air activities. It designed a special Plečnik-themed exhibition space, which the city of Ljubljana used for its presentation at different promotional events across Europe. Ljubljana Tourism also circulated Plečnik’s story as well as related products and experiences using social and printed media. In addition to the contents, the jury was persuaded by the overall success of the Plečnik’s Ljubljana project, which served as an introduction into the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018, as Ljubljana Tourism managed to bring together different stakeholders to cooperate, and the number of people that took part in the thematic tour dedicated to the great architect went up by as much as 120 percent in comparison to 2016.

Emerging Europe is an organisation established in London bringing together 23 countries of Central South-Eastern Europe with the aim of promoting their social and economic development and connecting them with potential investors beyond the region. The Emerging Europe awards are an initiative with which it wants to raise the international reputation of its member states as well as affirm and build upon their progress and best practices.

Just to add, awards in ten categories in total were presented. In the category Equality-Friendly Initiative of the Year the City of Ljubljana was also nominated with its LGBT-Friendly Certificate.