GREEN TOURISM ON ORGANIC FARMS IN SLOVENIA
Institute for Sustainable Development got involved in green tourism in countryside in 1998 when we took over the co-ordination of ECEAT for Slovenia (ECEAT – European Center for Eco Agro Tourism) In 1999 we have prepared »Green Holiday Guide for SouthEast Europe« in English which was publisjhed by ECEAT. Until 1998 there was no certification sysztem for organic farming, therefore we have been offering individually evaluated traditional farms that fulfilled basic requirements of ECEAT. Since 1999, we promote tourism on certified organic farms. However, detailed standards for »organic tourist farm« stating what should an organic farm also offer to its guests apart from being certified organic, are currently under development.
In 2000-2001 we were a partner in the project Eco-agroturismo (program Leonardo da Vinci, EU) together with AGOEL (Germany), AIAB and University Molise (both Italy). The project was devoted to the research on the education and training needs of organic tourism operators (farms) and to the development of an adequate training program.
In 2003 we developed a national project EcoAgroTourism (implemented by the financial support of the Delegation of European Commission in Slovenia) dealing with development of green tourism in rural areas. It included also an intensive 5-day training course for organic farmers involved in tourism on farm.
Institute for Sustainable Development is a member of ECEAT International.
ORGANIC TOURIST FARMS in Slovenia (location, address, offer…):
Organic tourist farms in neighbouring countries:
- Austria http://www.farmholidays.com
- Italy http://www.aiab.it/agriturismi/