The main goal of this paper is to assess the competitiveness of the two coastal tourist (micro) destinations - Portorož, Slovenia and Opatija, Croatia. The paper focuses on the current state of competitiveness of these two destinations, assessed by group of senior tourist students that visited both destinations. The approach and methodology are based on the different destination competitiveness models. For the purpose of the assessment of competitiveness of these two micro destinations, the integrated instrument of the destination competitiveness was developed and tested for its face validity. These two destinations were chosen because they have a similar history of development as well as tourist offer. The research results confirm the main hypothesis and majority of supporting hypothesis that Portoroz is more competitive destination than Opatija.

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The purpose – Slovenian tourism organisations must constantly focus on developing variety innovations for organisations. In this paper, we present a study conducted on innovation practices in Slovenian tourism organisations. Design/methodology – In a survey conducted on Slovenia tourism organisations, we obtained data and identified their innovation performance and the innovation climate in their area of business. There are three main hypothesis tested. Findings – The research sample of 41 organisations found that most innovation in tourism organisations came through the introduction of new services (90%), followed by innovation through new organisational methods (73%), and found a high-level climate for innovation. Worse was its assessment of research activity within organisations and cooperation with external institutions (eg. universities and research institutes) and investment in innovation activities within their research and development. Results obtained from the research showed a mean value for the innovation climate-instrument of 3.83 indicating a high innovation climate for the Slovenian tourism companies included in the sample survey. Mostly, (publicly known as) more innovative active organisations responded to our survey. From such results, we find that tourism organisations included in the survey are aware of the importance of innovation, teaching organisations to communicate well and network with other organisations, are adaptable to change and engaged with their own ideas in support of the organisation's management. Originality of the research – The contribution of the research is that it has applied the generic instrument for measuring innovation climate on tourism and the first time climate is measured in Slovenia.

This paper aims at presenting cruise tourism in Slovenia. Slovenia has a small coastal strip (46 km), which is the reason why there are only a limited number of ports. The only passenger terminal for large cruise ships is located in the Port of Koper. Cruise tourism started in Slovenia in 2015. Since the beginning, the number of cruise ships has grown substantially. The aim of the study is to investigate the impacts of cruise tourism in the city of Koper, as perceived by local tourism stakeholders. The results have shown that there is still a strong support to develop this sector of tourism.

This article is dedicated to presenting nautical tourism in Slovenia. The basic purpose is to evaluate the extent of nautical tourism, since data on this type of tourism in Slovenia are lacking. Slovenia has three marinas, a few moorings and a passenger terminal. Despite its small coastal strip (46 km), all forms of nautical tourism are represented. This article consists of theoretical and analytical work. The theoretical part presents a number of basic definitions relating to nautical tourism and cruises. This work will also present the development of this form of tourism in Slovenia to date. Slovenia’s first marina was built in 1979 in Portorož, while cruise tourism in Slovenia began later, in 2005. Due to its diversity in a small area, Slovenia is an ideal starting point for (maritime) excursions. In the analytical part, numerical traffic data for the period 2005 to 2015 from marinas and the Port of Koper have been collated and analysed. This work is based on data collected by the marinas themselves, since the official nautical traffic statistics are not recorded. The main results of our analysis indicate that nautical tourism in Slovenia has experienced a large decline since 2005. The exception is cruise tourism, which has shown strong growth.