The Slovak Tourist Board (SACR) has been in the U.S. accompanied by some Slovak tour operators on a three-day road tour in New York in an effort to boost tourism in and awareness of Slovakia.
The delegation gave presentations to their counterparts from Boston, Minneapolis and Dallas on what Slovakia has to offer. Peter Petian from the Slovak Embassy in New York said the three-day event was organised in response to some 130 travel agents that had expressed an interest in Slovakia.
Petian pointed out how some of the travel agent reps knew nothing about Slovakia as an independent country, although about a third of them had visited former Czechoslovakia. Apart from giving some basic details about the country, the presentations promoted also various popular destinations like the High Tatras and the various sites in Slovakia allocated to the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List.
Thanks for the reply John,
I respect what you’re saying however will stick with traveling in Austria, Italy, ‘ex Yugoslavia, and a dozen other countries. I live in Slovakia, travel and work in the rest of Europe but nowhere do i run into the pathetic conditions of services, and more importantly the general mentality of the service providers. There are plenty of reasons the situation is the way it is, HOWEVER i find no excuse for the state of public transport, the train station in Blava, or any other for that matter- including the ‘newly restored ones’ like in Piestany etc. It seems progress is evident, as you said, but at a snails pace compared to other emerging markets, and there are plenty of examples to back that up.
Well Mark, quite a cynical opinion, but that is your right. Having lived here for 21 years, though, maybe my opinion is also worth noting. Slovakia suffered at the hands of communism, which left its mark on the country in terms of the quality of services and also in how the crony system works. When institutions are state run for years (like the railways, and even hotels), they tend to be neglected when it comes to investments, which would not have been the case if they had been privately owned. These things are gradually changing in Slovakia, and there are now many good quality hotels and facilities, but this kind of change takes time, and more importantly, money. This process would certainly have progressed much faster if the crony practices of certain politicians had not sucked out so much public money from the system, but again, it is a matter of time and maturity. Overall, though, the country does have a lot to offer in terms of tourism, and so should be given credit for that while turning a half-blind eye to things like dirty trains and toilets, which there are a fair share of almost everywhere else in the world.
Come to Slovakia! Nowhere will you see such beautiful nature being destroyed by clear cut logging, tacky and expensive hotels and service that is some of the worst in Europe. The national parks are under pressure of re-classification while the mafia/ politicians are busy cleaning up on illegal land deals. Great experience! Thanks but no thanks!! I’d be curious to know just what the SACR actually has to offer! Oh, and be sure to take a dirty train from the beautiful BA train station, on to Poprad to get the full experience. However, just skip the restaurant and restrooms on the train. You could only take so much on one trip!!