STA, 4 May 2022 - The Education Ministry has rescheduled next year's winter break for primary and secondary school kids as Slovenia hosts the Nordic World Ski Championships between 21 February and 5 March. This should keep accommodation, which is full during the school break, available for athletes and fans, which local politicians have welcomed.
The championships will be held in Planica, a state-of-the-art winter sport hub in Gorenjska, a north-western region boasting several popular ski resorts.
Tourist accommodation is expected to be fully booked, with over 2,000 media staff and 1,600-1,700 athletes and staffers as well as visitors expected in Gorenjska.
While fans will stay in Slovenia and the lake-side resort of Bled will serve as the media centre, athletes will be accommodated across the border in Austria and Italy.
The rescheduling of the winter break will thus enable accommodation capacities to be fully available for the championships as the school break starts almost a month earlier, on 30 January for children from one half of the country and a week later for the other half.
The ministry acted on initiative of the Slovenian Ski Association, the Planica Organising Committee, the Kranjska Gora municipality and local tourism boards.
Ski resorts in Gorenjska, foremost Kranjska Gora and Bohinj, have already welcomed the decision as very important for the local economy.
"This is a great relief for the entire region," Kranjska Gora Mayor Janez Hrovat told the STA on Wednesday.
Not just Kranjska Gora but also other near-by tourist areas will now have an easier time knowing that Slovenian holidaymakers will be able to spend winter holidays here, he said.
"When Slovenian ski resorts cannot meet the demand from Slovenian skiers, these go abroad, which is a shame," said Kranjska Gora Tourism Board director Blaž Veber.
He said that the local ski resorts will be full during the championships as they already had agreements with the organisers to bring visitors.
