"Ljubljana has made huge steps forward in tourism and is reaping what it has sawn," Počivalšek said, noting that unlike other cities the capital had not cut any funds for tourism promotion in the past years.

He also noted that the number of overnight stays in Ljubljana had already exceeded one million.

The minister also visited today the construction site of the emerging Intercontinental hotel, which will be Ljubljana's first five-star hotel.

"Slovenia has four pillars in tourism: spa tourism, mountains, the coast and cities," the minister said.

He expects this year's results in tourism on the national level to exceed last year's, as the economic situation has been improving and more funds are being allocated to promotion.

"We will try to be wise with investment the whole year through, so that we will attract more foreign tourists this year and especially in the years to come," he said, adding that foreign tourists were the only guarantee for growth and development of tourism in a country as small as Slovenia.

Every year that will not bring better results than the previous one will be a "huge disappointment" for the minister.

Počivalšek also met CEO of the BTC shopping district Jože Mermal together with Public Administration Minister Boris Koprivnikar.

Coming out of the meeting, Počivalšek said BTC had a big effect on the region and the country as a whole. But he said that shopping tourism was still in its infancy in Slovenia.

Noting that Swedish furniture giant Ikea was to open its store at BTC in early 2018 and that Croatian retailer Mercator was to build a logistics centre there, he called for changes to the city infrastructure.

Business activities in the city have gone up since the time when Ljubljana's main roads and the ring road were built, he said.