Ski resorts in the north-east spearheaded the investment drive, with Golte constructing the first 12 of what are 20 planned apartments for EUR 2m.

The Mariborsko Pohorje ski resort spent EUR 1.7m to build a comprehensive snowmaking system for the slopes at lower altitudes, and a hotel was revamped and a covered conveyor was built at Rogla.

Meanwhile, the Vogel and Kranjska Gora ski resorts in the north-west invested in replacing worn-out lifts, as did several other resorts.

According to Ernest Kovač, the head of the association of ski resort operators, the drive exceeded those of the past years as ski resort operators invested into making the slopes even safer than they already were.

The association established a training centre for the staff of ski resorts and joined forces in its efforts to promote coaching with resorts from abroad, including the Jahorina ski resort from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Promotion of skiing among young people is also high on the agenda for the association, which has hooked up with the Slovenian and Croatian ski associations.

All that is left now is to wait for the temperatures to drop and snowmaking to begin. If all goes well, ski resort operators expect to welcome the first guests at the end of the month or in early December.

The winter season will come at the heels of a record-breaking summer season, in which ski resort operators served around 800,000 visitors and ski lift operators made 1.4 million lifts.

Nevertheless, revenue from the summer season at the ski resorts only represents between 10% and 15% of the revenue from the winter season.

There is an exception, however, as the Vogel ski resort above the picturesque lake Bohinj already caters to more visitors in the summer than in the winter.