Given that the new Slovenian prime minister has had to talk down suggestions that the country is the next Cyprus, Slovenes could do with a boost.
Perhaps in the form of a few extra days skiing this year? The unseasonal arctic conditions have brought fresh snow to the Alpine slopes ? and a late boost to ski centres.
Luka Vrancic, sales manager, at the Krvavec ski resort, thinks so, but not for the reason you might think. ?Of course we are very happy [the season] has not ended yet, but at Krvavec we are used to operating in April or even May,? he told beyondbrics.
Strangely enough, it?s not that the white stuff is actually technically needed, because ?there is really enough natural and artificial snow up there,? he says, it?s more the ?marketing role? of natural snow which makes ?people aware they can still ski.?
Regarless of the technicalities, skiers are certainly in evidence in the last few weeks, unlike the previous few seasons when warm weather in March sent workaholic Slovenes into their gardens, vineyards, or straight into summer sports.
Krvavec saw 38,000 skiers in March. That?s a fifth or 6,000 up on 2012, although a poor start to the season means the total number of skiers of 160,000 so far are only 7 per cent up on 2011-2012. And that?s from a low base, as 2011-12 was the worst year for a decade.
Centrally located, and easily accessible from Ljubljana, Slovenian day visitors dominate the Krvavec slopes. But while Vrancic reckons the proportion of foreigners ? primarily from Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, the UK, Czech Republic and Italy ? has risen from about 20 per cent last season to 25 per cent or more.
It?s a similar story 60 miles to the east, at Rogla, where late snow saw almost 39,000 skiers on the slopes, up 15 per cent on last year.
Tina Tinta Kovacic, Rogla?s head of public relations, says the increase is due to ?big sports events and more marketing activities?. Non-Slovenes are increaseing in number too ? visitors from Croatia and Hungary now make up almost one in four visitors each night.
It is the overnighters that give the biggest boost to the local economy, of course, which is why the late winter has been important still further east, at Maribor Pohorje.
Here, at Slovenia?s biggest ski resort, the late winter has had an even bigger effect due to the lower elevation. Despite a total lack of snow until January, numbers are 20-30 per cent up on last season.
?We are slowly approaching the number of skiers from the best ski seasons in the past,? says Nu?a Korotaj, head of marketing at Pohorje ? although the ski centre is reluctant to give out the figures.
The increase has certainly been felt at in the adjacent hospitality sector.
At the Habakuk Hotel, an upmarket spa hotel ideally located for the Pohorje ski lifts, guest nights in March were 2,748 ? up by 720, over a third increase on last year.
?Thanks to good weather this year, we have extended the reservations till end of March, instead of the normal mid-month. We have a large variety of foreign guests during the winter, [typically] from Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Russia. This year Hungarian guests are up 26 per cent,? Sanja Saboti, sales manager, told beyondbrics.
Not everyone is so enamoured by the lingering winter, however, not even in the skiing sector.
?The late snow hasn?t helped this season: we got our first nature snow on January 18th, too late for good season,? bemoaned Klavdija Gomboc, of Krajnska Gora ski centre, in northwest Slovenia ? which, perhaps surprisingly, stopped the ski lifts on April 1, despite the extra snow.
Pohorje?s Korotaj says the lack of outright enthusiasm for late snow is due to what might be termed ?Slovene ski-fatigue?.
?It is true that this late snow can bring some extra profit, but the problem is people are not [so] interested in spring skiing ? they are already thinking about seaside vacations,? she says.
Meanwhile, at more traditional tourism destinations, operators watch the continuing grey skies and cold winds with increasing impatience.
Jeruzalem vineyard: overchilled chardonnay?
Andrej Vr?ic, tourism chief for the vineyard-rich hills around Ljutomer, in Slovenia?s northeast, is frustrated. ?It?s still snowing a little, even now!? he told beyondbrics on Wednesday. ?We had about half the number of guests at Jeruzalem [a prime vineyard tourist destination] over Easter. And that means less money, which is more important then guests. The weather must change!?
Related reading:
Slovenia?s Elan: a double-edged ski, beyondbrics
On the slopes of utopia, FT
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