The EXPO Cave Karst Exhibition

Introduction

Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s most famous and most-visited tourist attraction, as well as one of the largest karst monuments in the world. EXPO Cave Karst is the largest permanent exhibition on Postojna Cave and the karst features around the world, where visitors can learn everything there is to know about the origin and tourism-related development of Postojna Cave. 

Description of the destination or original product

The exhibition features interactive presentations of contents that speak volumes about the formation and extraordinary history of the tourism development of the most famous show cave in the world (more than 38 million visitors). Visitors get to learn about the karst and karst features through projections of various contents onto a three-dimensional model, discover the peculiarities of the karst environment and learn about all superlatives and milestones attributed to Postojna Cave on the Wall of Fame.

The exhibition is of interest to visitors who are not familiar with the karst or caves and to experts alike. Special attention is devoted to children, who are guided through the exhibition interactively by an olm and a slenderneck beetle, and can even try their hand at driving a one-of-a-kind cave train. Fun and interactive.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

The company Postojnska jama d.d., which manages Postojna Cave, Slovenia’s most-visited tourist attraction, had the option of continuing to provide visitors with nothing but conventional guided cave tours for a number of years. However, the company’s management, which constantly strives for improvement and expansion of the range of products and services offered to visitors, decided to realise a century-long ambition to set up of a one-of-a-kind tribute to the karst world. In 2015, the world’s largest interactive exhibition on the karst was thus added to a wide range of available themed tours of the cave system.

The exhibition perfectly complements the Postojna Cave tours. The exhibition allows visitors to understand the complex geological history of the karst and its formation. Visiting the exhibition before they tour the subterranean passages makes it easier for them to follow the tour guides’ commentary and understand how individual cave formations in the cave are formed. However, if they see the exhibition after touring the cave, this provides them with answers to the questions that they might have thought of during the tour. Since the exhibition has been set up in a way that caters to different types of visitors, each visitor can find suitable content depending on their curiosity on the one hand and their previous knowledge on the other hand.

A tour of the exhibition and the cave, combined with other services, is part of various visitor package deals, by means of which we succeed in increasing visitors’ length of stay at the destination, and consequently also consumption per individual visitor.

The principles of sustainable development were one of the key guidelines in planning the exhibition. One of the exhibition’s subthemes is in its entirety dedicated to the interpretation of what Karst aquifers mean in terms of water supply and the degree of vulnerability of the subterranean karst world and the groundwater. This helps visitors become aware of the vulnerability of karst formations that are formed over thousands of years in closed, isolated areas.

The exhibition also includes a story aimed at uncovering the mystery of olms’ reproduction in the form of so-called “video morphing”.

Process that facilitated change

In 2018, Postojna Cave will celebrate an important anniversary, i.e. the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the most beautiful parts of Postojna’s subterranean world. The exhibition collection was thus in a way a one-of-a-kind introduction to the celebration of this anniversary, as it was opened after 111 years of ambitions and ideas of setting up a Postojna Cave museum. Since Postojna is also home to the Karst Research Institute (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts), which is one the world’s most important such institutes, the institute’s knowledge was combined with our experience, and the company Postojnska jama d.d. thus more than successfully accomplished its mission.

Implementation

Expo Cave Karst is an exhibition that presents the karst and Postojna Cave in terms of space and time in a modern and interactive way. It consists of three parts, i.e. the karst, the fauna and humans.

The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the karst’s geological history and its formation, its surface and subterranean features and formations. Of course, most of the attention is devoted to the subterranean karst world – to its formation, its various forms, age, remarkableness, and its vulnerability. The key characteristics of the subterranean karst world were brought together in one place, with the most attention, as expected, devoted to Postojna Cave, the queen of all caves. Karst aquifers supply drinking water to no less than half of Slovenia. Therefore, one of the important topics addressed by the exhibition are the forms of potential pollution risks that may endanger the vulnerable subterranean world.

In addition to caves and the karst, the exhibition is also devoted to the cave fauna, to the animals that inhabit the subterranean world. It presents the extinct cave-dwelling animals, occasional cave inhabitants, as well as the real cave animals that are no longer able to survive outside caves. Not only is Postojna Cave the cradle of speleobiology – owing to the fact that the first cave-dwelling animals were discovered here, as well as the largest number of such animals, but Postojna Cave still holds the world record in terms of cave-dwelling animals’ biodiversity, and our aim was to make sure visitor learn about it. We highlighted the cave’s important place in the birth of new sciences – speleology and speleobiology.

The third and last part of the exhibition present humans in relation to caves; at first, as ice-age inhabitants, who entered caves looking for shelter, and later as explorers. Over the last 200 years, Postojna Cave has experienced tourism-related development to a more intense extent that any other cave in the world and the exhibition features the most interesting milestones and achievements of individual historical periods. In a way, Postojna Cave constitutes the history of Slovenia over the last two centuries.

Success Story

EXPO Postojna Cave Karst is an important addition to the existing range of products and services available to visitors. It has enhanced the cave interpretations with new contents previously not available to visitors. The world’s largest permanent exhibition on caves and the karst features has thus fulfilled the dreams of many cave managers and generations that had worked towards realising this idea, which took quite a long time to put into action, because museum exhibitions are not the most lucrative ventures. Postojna Cave has proven to be quite the opposite and the exhibition attracts large numbers of visitors from all over the world.

Although it is referred to as an exhibition, the EXPO Cave Karst project is setting new (Slovenian and wider) museum standards, both in terms of technology and the topics it covers. It makes visitors familiar with the subterranean karst world and the life inside caves in a one-of-a-kind way, i.e. by means of analogue and digital tools that are the fruit of Slovenian knowledge and R&D, as well as collaboration with Slovenian professional institutions.

For this achievement, Postojna Cave has received the 2017 Sejalec award for its one-of-a-kind and outstanding interpretation of natural and cultural heritage, through which it has enriched and complemented Slovenia’s best known tourist attraction.

Considering the high number of visitors and the level of their satisfaction, we believe the exhibition is a most welcome addition to visitors’ experience of the subterranean world around Postojna and in Slovenia in general. No other Slovenian museum is visited by a larger number of visitors than EXPO Cave Karst.

Company info

Postojnska jama d.d. is a company that manages the natural monuments Postojna and Predjama cave systems and the Predjama Castle. Postojna Cave, which includes all the caves of the Postojna Cave System and the Cave under Predjama Castle, is state property for which the company, as a concessionaire, pays a concession fee. A part of the concession fee is returned to the cave infrastructure in the form of investments, whereas a larger portion belongs to the municipalities of Pivka and Postojna, as well as the state. As a successful enterprise, the company contributes a large share of the concession fee to the local environment, thus improving the welfare of the local population. The company also has a contract with the Republic of Slovenia for the management of the Predjama Castle.

The company Postojnska jama d.d. continues its long-established, almost 200-year tradition of managing cave tours and events, a tradition that dates back to the early 19th century, when the cave was set up as a show cave. Since then, the cave has been toured by more than 38 million visitors. In 2016, all the sights that are managed by the company were visited by a total of over one million visitors, which equals one third of all visitors to Slovenia. The company is just as successful when it comes to the development in terms of the hospitality and hotel industry. In 2016, the company funded the renovations of the four-star Hotel Jama.

The company’s mission is to create one-of-a-kind experiences focused on natural and cultural heritage in a way that preserves the heritage for future generations. The company offers a variety of cave tours, i.e. regular cave tours, caving adventures that take small groups to non-tourist corners of the caves, educational (natural science-oriented) programmes for schoolchildren (they include seeing the cave-dwelling animals), tailor-made incentive programmes for individual groups etc. The programmes include various culinary experiences, which perfectly complement the range of services and adventures offered to visitors. 

In 2015, the company opened an exhibition on Postojna Cave and the karst – Expo Cave Karst, the largest exhibition of its kind in the world.

Postojnska jama d. d.

Jamska cesta 30

SI-6230 Postojna

Slovenia

Info:

Tel. +386 5 7000 100

info@postojnska-jama.eu

www.postojnska-jama.eu

Vinarium Tower Lendava (Slovenia)

Introduction

Description of the destination or original product

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

Process that facilitated change

Implementation Success story 

Company info

 

 

 

Lodging with local touch

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria

Introduction

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria is a product that arose from our enthusiasm, young-spirited character, inexperience and our desire for innovation. The basic idea we stemmed from was to offer the tourists, who come to visit the Slovenian Istria, different or alternative lodging opportunities.  Our premise was, that all hotel rooms, globally speaking, look really similar. You can be travelling to New York or Rome, and when you wake up in your hotel room it does not really give away your location at first. This is exactly what we wanted to surpass. We wanted to portray the image of Slovenian Istria to our guests in their rooms. In addition to the regular rooms and suites we decided to offer an alternative accommodation, which would be in line with sustainability principles and would become an experience in itself.

Process that facilitated change

The idea for the holiday homes was created as a result of an increased demand to enlarge the tourist capacities and as a new opportunity for adventure in Slovenian Istria, that would attract new tourists and buyers and place our small town on the tourist map of Slovenia.  They were built after four years of intensive action in expanding the existing accommodations. We were aware of the need to expand or change, which would deviate from the average and provide new experience for all. All tourist trends were pointing to the development of alternative forms of accommodation and the returning back to nature.

Implementation

The important element that we added to the houses is their story ̶ the story of Šavrinke women. Without this story, our holiday houses would only be houses with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Trieste. The story about the Šavrinke women makes these houses the central stage for the old and the new to meet, where the life stories of our grandmothers can live on and make us think about the commodities and freedoms we enjoy today and how they are not just an automatic right.

Slovenian Istria has always been considered as the crossroads of cultures, ethnicities and languages.  As a result of harsh and bad conditions for agriculture and famine, the area experienced a large exodus, particularly in the past century. Consequently, a very specific identity profile developed here, reflecting itself in the character of the Istrian people. Specifically, stubbornness, resourcefulness and the desire for a better future are the main characteristics of our grandmothers, known as the Šavrinke women. Those were brave, fearless women, who often had to take the reins, feed many and provide for the whole family. Several times per week they would make rounds to bigger cities and try to sell their produce at the best price to the city folk. They would sell anything they could gather from the neighbouring villages, and frequently, due to the strictly guarded border between Slovenia and Italy, they had to smuggle these products. In memory and honour of the brave acts these women did, we decided to name our houses after them, namely Jajčarica (Egg lady), Krušarica (Bread lady), and Mlekarica (Milk lady).

The houses imitate the old Istrian houses by design but also the colours of the façades are replicas from the times of the Second World War in Istria. They are furnished with the original antique furniture ranging from the end of the 19th century and the Second World War. Each house is also equipped with a brief historical description of Istria, the Šavrinke woman and their story.

From the very beginning, protecting the environment is one of the key tasks we set in our work.  We have implemented many regulations and practices in the working operation of the houses, such as reusing the old furniture, strict waste recycling and reducing the consumption of electrical energy and water.

Sustainability built in

The social and cultural aspects of the project are prominent primarily in its efforts for the preservation of the cultural heritage of our ancestors and the historical presentation of Slovenian Istria, readily available to all the tourists who visit the houses. It is also important to note that the project not only strengthens and facilitates the respect of traditions, it also maintains the quality of life within the local community.

Economically speaking, the project contributed in making the destination more desirable, and at the same time had a direct effect on other surrounding subjects, such as wine and olive growers, farmers, restaurateurs, tourist guides, etc. These effects are multiplicative and difficult to measure; however, they are definitely positive.

In June 2017, the Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria were, as the first accommodation of its kind in the Slovenian Istria, awarded the international Gold Travelife certificate, which covers environmental protection incentives, respecting the employees, local community and its inhabitants, and respectful attitude towards natural and cultural heritage and promoting the local population. The certificate signifies additional commitment to our work towards a sustainable development of tourism.

Success/failure story

There were numerous elements that contributed to the success of our project. First and foremost, it was the contest of the Municipality of Koper for the development of ideas, which encouraged new ideas and provided tutoring or assistance in preparing a business plan for the winner. A prerequisite for participation in this contest was applying to a tender called Snovalec, under the auspices of the Slovenian Tourist Board.

Clearly, the news of our project being the winner became public very quickly through the media and the responses of the public varied, most of them were positive, some were negative. It was uncommon to expect that a young and inexperienced businesswoman could be able to implement major projects. However, and according to the words of John Donne, no man is an island, so we managed to realize the project with the help of our families and our “Istrian stubbornness”. The award from the Snovalec tender was an important recognition for us, that also alerted the media to us and gave us the opportunity to present ourselves to the general public. This marked an important event, and the marketing effect ended up being much larger than anticipated. The story spread, gaining a big media impact.

Apart from the newly built Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria, even our previously owned standard accommodations, fit for people who are not willing to give up on the basic comfort (rooms with no electricity or bathroom), were filled thanks to the houses and their media story. We now reach full occupancy for the houses during the summer months, and during the spring and autumn they reach full occupancy during the weekends.

With the desire to achieve a higher occupancy outside of the main season and to round-up the tourist destination of Slovenian Istria, several accommodation providers joined in a tourism cooperative called Zakladi Istre d. o. o. (The Treasures of Istria Ltd.), where we are now preparing a common marketing strategy.

Future

In addition to our new accommodation offer, we now serve also the so-called Istrian breakfast. It consists of exclusively home-grown produce and products and is delivered to our houses on the agreed hours. The ingredients are bought from the local farmers and various manufacturers located across Istria. We would now like to expand this idea and deliver those breakfasts to other accommodation providers. In addition to its authentic food ingredients, the breakfast package would also include information about the cultural and gastronomic identity of Istria and suggestions for visiting local farms and attractions.

Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria is a project that will continue to live on as it does today. Surely, there is always room for improvement. The most important thing is that we take every situation as a learning experience and use that acquired knowledge in the future. In the near future, we plan to upgrade the existing houses and extend our offer, which will further enrich our destination, the Slovenian Istria.

Company info

Hiške slovenske Istre/Holiday houses of Slovenian Istria

Mateja Hrvatin Kozlovič, directress

Address: Truške 1b, Marezige, Slovenia

www.hiske.si/en

info@hiske.si

 

 

 

Glampro: Garden Village Bled (Slovenia)

Introduction

Challenge

Concept

The work

Key features

Now

Company info