Ways to strengthen ties were on the top of the agenda as Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek visited the fair on Thursday.

"Germany is the third largest source market and figures have been growing for give years," he said.

But aside from attracting visitors including convention guests, Slovenia is also interested in investments in tourism, according to him.

Slovenian Ambassador to Germany Marta Kos Marko noted that Slovenia could benefit from Germans' reluctance to holiday in their preferred destinations of Turkey and Greece.

"We have a lot of opportunities to attract them. Germans are the world champions in travel, they holiday several times a year, we should take advantage of that," she told the STA.

In the morning the Slovenian stand hosted 60 German journalists and two media reports about Slovenia were awarded, including a 45-minute TV show.

In the afternoon, Slovenia Green, a green tourism agenda, will be presented. "This is a tool for the implementation of sustainable tourism," said Maja Pak, acting head of the Slovenian Tourism Board (STO).

Slovenia's STO-sponsored presentation in Berlin features over two dozen destinations and providers focusing on the country's top spa destinations, active holidays in Ljubljana, and the Soča river.

German tourists generated 700,000 overnight stays in Slovenia last year, 11% of the total and up almost 9% over the year before.

This year tourism workers hope the figures will rise further still, not least due to the introduction of two direct flights, Maribor-Düsseldorf and Ljubljana-Cologne.