The two-day event features meetings between tourism organisations and tour operators looking for new partnerships and connections.

Representatives of 107 tour operators from 30 countries met with 134 Slovenian tourism companies in over 2,500 head-to-head meetings, according to Karmen Novarlič, the head of tourism at the SPIRIT agency.

The majority of the foreign guests came from key tourism markets such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia and Great Britain.

The event comes in a challenging period for Slovenian tourism, as arrivals continue to increase while many tourism companies still face grave financial problems.

In the past a lot of EU funds were channelled into tourism, but in the next financial period "there are not many opportunities," said Eva Štravs Podlogar, the head of the Economy Ministry's tourism directorate.

In the first quarter of the year tourism arrivals rose by about a tenth, as Italian guests started coming back, with Austrian arrivals surging 20% and German by about a tenth, said Novarlič.

But the trend on the Russian market is worrying, according to her, as arrivals are down 40% and "will not return to positive territory in peak season."

Slovenia has thus shifted its promotion efforts to countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.