The representative of Cantonal Public Institution for Protected Natural Areas has recently participated in study tours in Estonia and Slovenia.
After the “Green Destinations” conference in Estonia, a study tour was organized from 11 to 12 October. Jarvamaa, the National Park “Soomaa” and the city of Parnu were visited, where the participants learned about the ways of sustainable development and the tourist offer that includes traditional businesses such as which is e.g. making wooden boats.
By visiting the “Soomaa” National Park, the participants had the opportunity to get to know the oldest ecological landscape in Estonia, which reaches up to 10,000 years old in some cases. The traditional way of walking around that landscape is to use snowshoes to avoid the spikes so as not to damage the surface layer of peat. The area is very rich in lakes, which in some cases reach a depth of up to four meters. The city of Parnu is a tourist and summer destination in Estonia, but it is also a green city that builds tourism and tourist offer towards sustainable development. During the tour, the participants had the opportunity to meet family businesses, restaurants that cooperate with the local community.
The study tour in Slovenia also aimed to acquaint the participants with green destinations and ways to offer tourism, developing the offer in a sustainable way and how to disperse tourists throughout the entire destination.
On the first day of the tour, Ljubljana, which is a platinum destination, was visited, where the participants learned about new ways of maintaining green roofs, which means that honey is produced and beehives are installed in the city center. During the tour, the silver destinations of Radovljica and Žirovnica were visited, and the participants also visited Lake Bled and Camp Šobec, which has a Green Key certificate. The last day of the study tour was reserved for a visit to the city of Kranj, which is a platinum destination. After visiting Kranj, the participants had the opportunity to walk through the underground tunnels that were built during World War II and are now used as a new tourist attraction. In those tunnels there is an SOS Proteus info-center, where you can see the olm (human fish).