Today, at the 46th International Tourism Fair in Novi Sad, Serbia, the BTC Company received the 2013 Tourist Prism award for its contribution to development in tourism. This regional award for new quality in tourism is granted every year to companies which have made important contributions to developing tourism on the local, national or regional levels. Awards are given to companies from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia, the winners being chosen by journalists working in the field of tourism. BTC convinced the jury with its range of offers and partnerships, with which it significantly contributes to the recognisability of Ljubljana and Slovenia on the regional level.
The Tourist Prism is a regional award established in 1998. The aim of the award is to boost innovative projects in tourism and thereby heighten the quality of tourist services.
Upon receiving the award, Jože Mermal, president of the BTC Management Board, pointed out that it testifies to a successful symbiosis between BTC City and the city of Ljubljana, as well as to a mutual effort to create a modern urban image of the Slovenian capital, which is an important factor in the development of tourism. “The BTC Company’s key values in shaping its future activities are partnership, sustainable development and customer satisfaction. That is how we strengthen our offering on a yearly basis. We believe that our efforts have an impact on the international recognisability of the country of Slovenia and its capital, as well as its sports athletes, culture and art. This award proves that by our actions we successfully reinforce the position of Slovenia and its capital city on the European tourist map,” added Mermal.
ÄorÄ‘e Mihajlović, Tourist Prism director and managing editor, justified the award given to BTC with the following words: “BTC City represents a truly meaningful concept – with its complete tourist offer, it is one of the leading providers in the field of tourism that Ljubljana has to offer. There are specialized shops, restaurants and bars, as well as plenty of opportunities for recreation, entertainment and wellness. Last but not least, one of BTC City’s good points is also its rich congress tourism.” Mihajlović pointed out the project “Mission: Green”, in the scope of which BTC invests considerably in sustainable development and social responsibility, as an important pillar in BTC’s operations. It brings visible results on the level of BTC City, as well as on the level of the entire country, because it affects population growth as well as ties into country-wide sustainable development strategies and tourism development. Mihajlović also stressed that the BTC Company can pride itself on the fact that more than 21 million people come to visit BTC City each year, at least a third of them due to its tourism offers.
In fact, BTC City, as the most important Slovenian business, shopping, recreational, entertainment and cultural centre, as well as one of the largest shopping, entertainment, cultural and business centres in Central Europe, has been investing in infrastructure for decades, also involving its business partners in the development and realization of new projects. Such investment in infrastructure enables it to develop unique business activities and services, and thereby also strengthen its tourism offer, which makes for a constantly growing number of visitors.
To its customers, BTC City offers more than 450 specialized shops, department stores and hypermarkets, a marketplace, a fish market, florist shops, more than 60 bars and restaurants, and 8,500 free parking spaces. In addition to shopping, BTC offers plenty of opportunities for sports, entertainment and wellness. Entertainment centre Arena, the mega cinema complex Kolosej, Atlantis Water Park and Sports centre Millenium are only some of the options at your disposal in BTC City where you can find entertainment and relaxation. BTC City also boasts some well-developed congress tourism. Since last year, the outskirts of BTC City can pride themselves on hotel facilities provided by the Plaza Hotel. The Plaza is also the first hotel situated in the centre of BTC, with numerous conference halls and an excellent location. Since 2010, BTC’s possibilities for congress tourism have also been enriched by the Crystal Palace, the highest building in Slovenia. It is a home of many domestic and international companies. In addition, BTC City is interesting to tourists as a cultural centre. Only recently, the young artist store SiTiARTstore, whose patron is the BTC Company, opened its doors there. Furthermore, at diverse spots within BTC City, ten artworks, sculptures made by famous and less famous artists are exhibited. The artworks, each in their own way, highlight BTC’s policy to bring art closer to as wide an audience as possible, and raise public awareness of the general importance of culture and art. One of the most prominent cultural sites in BTC City is SiTi teater, which is visited by more than 35,000 people per season.
In all its endeavours, BTC follows the guidelines of sustainable development, which is an important trend in tourism, also supported by the international tourism organization. BTC displays its striving for sustainability through various activities, combined under the strategic project “Mission: Green”. A lot is being invested in socially responsible projects, which help young people while also having a positive impact in the fields of culture and sports. “One of the recent accomplishments of BTC, which will improve the recognisability of our country, the development of recreational sports as well as the tourist turnout in our capital city, will be the World championship for recreational cyclists UWCT Final Ljubljana 2014. The championship will be hosted in BTC City since it will proceed along the same route as Marathon Franja. The organization of the championship will most definitely have a significant impact on the recognisability of our country, the development of recreational sports and, last but not least, also on the tourist turnout in our capital city as well as in BTC City. Because more and more people take to cycling with every passing day, this also means that the event will improve the recognisability of Slovenia in the world,” said Jože Mermal, underlining BTC’s most recent effort aiming towards socially responsible practices.
Additional information:
Maja Oven, Director of the Market Communication and Public Relations Sector
- phone: +386 (0)1 585 13 15
- e-mail: maja.oven@btc.si
