The project partners – the Municipality of Postojna (the principal partner), the Institute for Spatial Policies, the Norwegian Municipality of Strand and the company Postojnska jama d.d. – have noted that despite the increased number of visitors to the destination in 2023, the road traffic (private motor vehicles) on the Postojna Cave-Predjama Castle route has decreased by seven percentage points compared to the 2022 tourist season.

The press conference, which was held ahead of the official end of the project at Hotel Jama in the Postojna Cave Park, was participated in by the Mayor of Postojna Igor Marentič, the project leader Maja Piškur, a representative of the company Postojnska jama d.d. Ksenija Dvorščak and a representative of the Institute for Spatial Policies Urban Jeriha. Anita Ellefsen Hus joined the press conference online from Norway. All the project partners have agreed that the project had brought about concrete changes to the destination, and have specified the following measures that have significantly contributed to this:

• raising awareness through the #thinkdeeper hashtag online and on social networking sites,
• urging Postojna Cave Park visitors to use sustainable means of transport, both through screens at the Postojna Cave and through billboards,
• a free shuttle bus on the Postojna Train Station-Postojna Bus Station-Postojna Cave-Predjama Castle route and back,
• cycle and pedestrian paths were set up and marked,
• several bus stops were set up, including at the Postojna Cave Park,
• a car park was set up at the Okrepčevalnica Prepih eatery,
• special package deals in collaboration with bus companies and the Slovenian Railways,
• in cooperation with the Municipality of Postojna, the company Postojnska jama d.d. has demonstrated its strong commitment to sustainability by providing additional shuttle bus services on the Postojna Cave-Predjama Castle-Postojna Cave route.

Excellent results. How to move forward?

The initial project goal was to increase the share of sustainable arrivals by five percentage points. Now that the project is coming to an end, we can be more than satisfied because, according to the conducted analyses and impact monitoring, in 2023, we managed to increase the share of sustainable arrivals by as many as seven percentage points. What’s more, according to our own data, over 35,000 Postojna Cave Park visitors have used bus transport in the last year, which represents more than 10% of the mobility that would otherwise have been part of the traffic on local roads.

These are by all means encouraging results as well as a reminder to all the stakeholders that if there’s a will there’s a way. And that it is up to all of us to educate, conserve nature and encourage people to behave in a sustainable way. For this reason, all the press conference participants have pledged to continue to work together and actively contribute to various campaigns that encourage sustainable travel and way of life.