Slovenia and Croatia in the Running for EDEN Award

21 May 2008

The valley of the Soča River, and the cultural and tourist festival `Picokijada` (the Festival of the Chicken) in Djurdjevac got the first excellence award for tourist destination in Slovenia and Croatia, respectively. They will represent Slovenia and Croatia in the competition with 20 other destinations for the EDEN (European Destination Excellence) Award.

The EDEN award is a project of the European Commission, initiated in 2006. It covers the countries of the EU and Croatia, which managed to secure participation of non-member states through its representatives in the Tourism Advisory Committee.

The project aims to direct the attention to the values and riches of different European destinations, and promote economic development that would maintain the harmony with the socially, culturally and environmentally sustainable tourism.

In order to attract interest in as many countries as possible, the EC asked the Tourism Advisory Committee to propose a list of topics of interest to as many member states and candidate countries. The topic for 2008 is Tourism and Local Non-Material Heritage. The selection of winners will take place at the European Tourism Forum, September 18-19, in Bordeaux, France.

The Stories of the Soča won the final round of the Slovenian selection, beating the Idria Lace Festival and the Presern�s Smenj (Fair) in Kranj. In Croatia, the other finalists were Ethno Land Dalmati from Pakovo selo, Čakovec the City of Counts Zrinski, and the Sisak Chivalric Tournament.