Preparing for a hot summer

© Živa Rant

Last year, we recorded around 960,000 overnight stays in Bled, we hosted guests from 184 countries from all over the world, of which almost 160,000 overnight stays were booked by tourists from Germany, followed by the British and Slovenians.

This summer will be hot and long

Bled has been intensively preparing for the summer season, which will be very good in terms of bookings. That is why the Municipality of Bled, the public institution Javni zavod Turizem Bled, the Bled Cultural Institution and the public utility company Infrastruktura Bled invited representatives of the tourism industry to a meeting where we talked about the management of the destination at a time when Bled will accommodate the highest number of guests.

Traffic and the protection of the lake shore remain the main challenges

The Mayor of Bled, Anton Mežan, said that the destination will introduce all measures in a soft way, as it is important that people understand why certain restrictions are in place and what they are intended for. Protecting the natural and cultural heritage and respectfully presenting the beauty of Bled goes hand in hand with the sustainable use of space and protected values of Bled.

Currently, the construction of the roundabout at the entrance to Bled at the turn for Šobec is still underway; however, it is expected to be finished by the summer. Construction will continue along the Ljubljanska cesta road, on the Betinov klanec slope, where the first section of the southern bypass road is being built. The construction will also take place in the summer, the road, however, will not be closed, and traffic will flow through two narrowed lanes. The sidewalk along the state road in Mlino is to be rehabilitated, and because works cannot be completed before the summer, they will begin in autumn. 

This summer, the Municipality of Bled will once again put into use a macadam parking lot by Infrastruktura Bled, where additional parking spaces will be provided.

This year, the villages of Ribno, Bodešče, Selo and Mlino will be protected with a special traffic regime, as the roads will only be used by the local population and no longer for transit.

A peaceful walk around the lake

The director of the public institution Javni zavod Turizem Bled, Blaž Veber, said that the vision of a five-star experience in Bled is a peaceful walk around the lake, even when Bled is at its busiest. “It will take a tremendous amount of work and patience in order to achieve this.” Managing a destination is a demanding task, but all stakeholders of the tourism industry in Bled must be aware of it and participate in it.

"Planning a visit to the sights of Bled by booking or buying on-line tickets is one of the ways to ensure greater flow and a better overview of the visit", says Blaž Veber. Great emphasis will also be placed on improving visits to Bled between November and April, i.e. in the months when there are fewer visits to Bled.

A colourful Bled summer

The summer in Bled will be very varied this year as well. Both the director of the Bled Cultural Institute, Lea Ferjan, and the director of Turizem Bled, Blaž Veber, said that this summer will also be marked by cooperation between the two institutes, and above all, this year they will also try to enrich other parts of Bled by organising events, from the Spa Park to the stands in Zaka, and special attention will also be paid to Straža, where they are planning the "Nights over Bled”, as they called this new type of events that will start this summer. 

Bled Castle is expecting a significant increase in visitors this year, as Asian guests are also returning.

The best waste is that which is not produced at all

The director of the public utility company Infrastruktura Bled, Janez Resman, warned that despite the fact that Bled receives international recognition and awards for waste and water management, we still have to keep in mind that the best waste is that which is not produced at all. "In Bled, we separate more than 80% of all waste, but the problem is the amount". At the same time, he once again made an appeal to everyone to be aware that every thing we buy in a store will one day become waste.

The public utility company Infrastruktura Bled manages mount Straža and the Castle Bathing Area, which is the holder of the Slovenia green beach mark and is thus part of the family of the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism. Both on Straža, which is increasingly becoming the green and sports hinterland of Bled, and at the bathing area, they expect a very good turnout this year.