Belgian hotelier: Slovakia is still unknown to Belgian and Dutch tourists

A Belgian hotelier operating in Slovakia helps spread the word about the country as a tourist destination.

The Sojka Hotel in Liptov regionThe Sojka Hotel in Liptov region (Source: Courtesy of GV)
More information about travelling in Slovakia
Please see our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide.

Slovakia, which became independent in 1993, is still largely an unknown country to potential tourists from Belgium and the Netherlands, Belgian entrepreneur Gerdi Vanfleteren told the TASR newswire at the Holiday Fair in Brussels (February 1-4) on February 4.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

“They still don’t know about it,” said Vanfleteren, who owns the Sojka Hotel in Malatiny (Žilina Region). “They still ask – Where is it? Is it Slovenia? Is it Prague?... I still need to explain that it’s a beautiful destination even for people from Benelux.”

SkryťTurn off ads

Vanfleteren has been presenting the beauty of Slovakia to people in Belgium and the Netherlands for 13 years. He has cooperated with the Slovak Transport and Construction Ministry in the Netherlands in order to promote the brand “Good Idea Slovakia”.

At the Brussels fair he offered the “Tatra Tea” liquor and Slovak wines to visitors. The Belgians and Dutch seem to be interested in Slovakia, but it is up to him to persuade them that it is a safe country with nice people, and with the euro as the means of payment, he told TASR.

Read also: Hotel Sojka lures tourists from Benelux Read more 

Hotelier instead of official representation

When asked how he views the fact that Slovakia was not officially present at the Brussels tourism fair, he said that it was a big mistake.

“It’s not only myself that I have to sell, but the whole of Slovakia,” Vanfleteren pointed out, as quoted by TASR. “The first step that I have to take is to tell people that they should come to Slovakia, and only after that invite them to come to see me.”

SkryťTurn off ads

The Belgian entrepreneur added that he advertises Slovakia as a country of beautiful scenery, castles, culture, unusual churches, lakes, thermal springs and sporting opportunities.

Slovaks make up almost 70 percent of the customers at his hotel in northern Slovakia, while 20 percent come from Belgium and the Netherlands.

Read also: How to feel Slovak life Read more 

Top stories

Ernst Willers – Greek Sea, after 1870, Ernest Zmeták Art Gallery in Nové Zámky, GNZ

Weekend: A trip to the sea...in art

Bodies of water in art, summer markets and foreign movie nights. Here's what to do for the weekend of June 9 -11.


9. jun
Vrakuňa’s citizens presented apples washed in water with leaked toxins at the protest in 2016.

Chemical time bomb in Bratislava’s Vrakuňa keeps ticking

The state is failing to solve leaking chemical waste dump.


31. may
Jupiter (centre) and its Galilean moons: from left Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto. Juice with deployed antennas and arrays is in the bottom right.

From Košice to Ganymede: Slovak engineers are leaving their mark in space

Slovaks are active participants in two ongoing space missions.


20. may
The future of safer abortion in Slovakia is still unknown.

News digest: Health minister ponders politically fraught abortion pill decision

Summer in Bratislava, the future of stores, and the general prosecutor objects to a sentencing decision.


9. jun
SkryťClose ad