News
As part of the 65th Vitranc Cup, a business event entitled From Climate Challenges to a Competitive Future for the Alpine Region was held in Kranjska Gora, organized by the SPIRIT Slovenia public agency in cooperation with Advantage Austria.
The event brought together more than 70 representatives of Slovenian and Austrian companies and experts from various fields, and the discussion focused on how green transformation, innovative energy solutions, and digital technologies can contribute to the development of a competitive economy in the Alpine region.
The participants were addressed by Nataša Kos, Deputy Director of SPIRIT Slovenia, and Wilhelm Nest, Director of Advantage Austria Ljubljana. This was followed by two round tables.
The first, entitled "Green Solutions: How to Turn Climate Challenges into Competitive Advantages," was moderated by Mihela Hladin Wolfe. The first, entitled "Green Solutions: How to Turn Climate Challenges into Competitive Advantages," was moderated by Mihela Hladin Wolfe and featured Berndhard Puttinger (Green Tech Valley Cluster), Tomaž Fatur (Center for Energy Efficiency, Jožef Stefan Institute), and Tadej Gosak (Marles). The participants highlighted the importance of developing sustainable energy solutions, efficient use of resources, and innovative technologies that enable companies to adapt to climate change while opening up new business opportunities. They agreed that one of the key challenges today is to set goals and development visions that will remain sustainable in the future, as the economic and social environment is changing extremely rapidly. Companies are therefore paying increasing attention to long-term development strategies and considering how to manage organizations in a way that will be successful in the coming decades, while taking into account the uncertainty surrounding society's future needs and expectations.
The second round table, entitled "Digital Solutions: Tourism and Sport of the Future," was dedicated to the role of digital technologies in the management of tourist destinations and the organization of major sporting events. The discussion, moderated by Dr. Zoran Vaupot from SPIRIT Slovenia, was attended by Tomaž Ambrožič (Sport Media Focus), Tomislav Čeh (PKF Hospitality), Urška Starc Peceny (Arctur), and Silvia Wirnsberger (Business Lion). The discussion focused on the use of data in decision-making, the personalisation of tourism services, strengthening international competitiveness and measurable sustainability effects. They also discussed how digital solutions can help to better manage visitor flows, reduce operational risks, and improve the guest experience while protecting nature and the environment.
They agreed that digitization, data solutions, and advanced analytics are becoming key factors in the development of new business models in tourism and sports. In this context, digitization does not only mean technological tools for organizing events, but also new ways of creating and managing communities around
sports and tourism experiences. Although sporting events are very different from one another, they are increasingly becoming part of a broader industry in which it is important to build long-term relationships with visitors and participants – not only during the event itself, but throughout the year.
