STA, 1 July 2022 - Some 86% or a combined total of EUR 468.4 million worth of the 2020 and 2021 tourist vouchers was cashed in, shows data by the Financial Administration (FURS), and EUR 75.27 million was left unredeemed by Thursday, the last day of voucher validity.

The 2020 vouchers were part of the third Covid relief package, granting each adult citizen EUR 200, while each minor received EUR 50. The vouchers were redeemable in the tourism sector for overnight stays or for bed and breakfast.

According to data from FURS, 84.5% or 301.47 million worth of these vouchers were cashed in, with a EUR 55.38 million worth of vouchers remaining unredeemed.

Some 86.5% off all citizens fully or partially redeemed their vouchers, most of them in the municipalities of Piran (345,272), Kranjska Gora (127,280), Moravske Toplice (118,978), and Brežice (118,978).

The 2021 vouchers, intended for hospitality services, culture, book-shopping and sports, with each of-age Slovenian receiving a EUR 100 voucher, and children and teenagers a EUR 50 voucher, also expired on Thursday.

Their total value stood at EUR 186.78 million, with EUR 166.9 million or nearly 90% was redeemed. Some 92% of the beneficiaries took advantage of the 2021 vouchers, a higher percentage compared to the 2020 vouchers.

The last day of voucher validity brought in EUR 4.35 million from the 2021 vouchers.

Half of the 2021 vouchers were spent in the hospitality sector, 30% in tourism, and 14% in culture services. Two-thirds of the latter were allocated towards buying school supplies and books. The remainder (6%) was allocated to sport services, FURS noted.

STA, 4 May 2022 - Slovenians have so far redeemed 76% of tourist vouchers issued in 2020 and 70% of the 2021 vouchers that can be used in a variety of fields. Both types of vouchers are valid until the end of June, with EUR 86 million yet to be spent in tourist facilities and EUR 56 million in tourism, culture, and sport.

Since tourist vouchers were introduced on 19 June 2020 as a form of government aid to the tourism sector due to the pandemic, over 1.6 million beneficiaries or almost 80% have used their vouchers partly or in full by 2 May, data by the Financial Administration show.

Adults received EUR 200 and children EUR 50 to spend at tourist facilities around the country.

In total, EUR 272.64 million or 76% of the amount available has been redeemed.

The 2021 vouchers have so far been used to pay for accommodation as well as cultural and sports services by 1.5 million or 75% of beneficiaries.

Since they were introduced on 16 July 2021, 1.9 million vouchers worth EUR 130.91 million have been partially or fully cashed in.

Adults received EUR 100 and children EUR 50.

About 47% of the vouchers were used to pay for restaurant bills, 34% for tourist accommodation, 12% for cultural events, and the purchase of books and school textbooks, and 7% for sports.

STA, 2 December - Given the poor epidemiological situation and the fact that almost half of the vouchers issued this year to help the hospitality, tourism, sports and culture sectors have not been cashed in yet, the government decided on Thursday to extend their validity until the end of June 2022.

The 2021 vouchers were introduced with an emergency law for tourism and associated sectors and awarded to all those who had a permanent residence in Slovenia on 30 June.

Adults received EUR 100 and under 18-year-olds EUR 50 for services offered by the hospitality, tourism, sport and culture sectors.

In line with the law, the vouchers were to expire on 31 December but the government was also given the option to extend their validity by six months.

The cabinet believes that the extension will lift the pressure off tourism and other facilities in the country in the final month of the year and thus contribute to reducing the number of infections, the Economy Ministry said after the government's session.

The extension of the vouchers will also boost demand for the various services in the first half of next year, it added.

The vouchers were activated on 16 July and until 22 November, little more than half of them were redeemed, while EUR 95.9 million in vouchers were still unused.

The government had also proposed the extension of last year's tourism vouchers until the end of June 2022 in a bill on additional measures for curbing the epidemic and its consequences, which is yet to be discussed by parliament.

STA, 27 May 2021 - Slovenia will introduce new tourism vouchers as it is finalising an emergency bill to help the tourism industry. Unlike the vouchers issued last year, it will also be possible to use these for services such as cultural and sport events or recreational activity, Economy Ministry State Secretary Simon Zajc said on Thursday.

"I hope we're in the last week of coordination," Zajc said at a news conference of the Slovenian Tourism Board in Ljubljana on Thursday.

The new vouchers are planned to be valid until the end of the year, but Zajc said their implementation would be more demanding because they would be used more broadly than the existing ones, which can be used only for accommodation with or without breakfast.

He declined to discuss the sum but said that a somewhat lower sum than the existing vouchers had been discussed. Last year, adult residents received EUR 200 and underage residents EUR 50.

Introduced with the third emergency coronavirus package amid the epidemic in 2020 in the total amount of EUR 357 million, tourism vouches were initially to be used by the end of last year, but were later extended until the end of 2021.

Until the middle of this week, over 924,000 vouchers have been redeemed or services booked to be paid with them, which translates to almost EUR 132 million, said Zajc.

The government has so far provided over EUR 450 million to the hospitality and tourism sector, which includes the events industry and passenger transport, said Zajc.

Some 40% of the funds were allocated directly to preserve jobs, while liquidity loans have also been available, alongside another EUR 46 million for the coverage of operating costs through two tenders.

The state secretary said the bill would be discussed by the expert council for tourism next week, and then sent to the Economic and Social Council for debate.

STA, 3 December 2020 - The government extended the validity of tourism vouchers until the end of 2021 on Thursday. Announcing the move, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said that the decision aimed to help the tourism sector, which has been badly hit by the epidemic.

Tourism vouchers were introduced as part of the third stimulus package, which was passed in parliament in late May.

They were given to all Slovenian residents - adults received a voucher of EUR 200 and minors EUR 50. The vouchers could be redeemed only in exchange for accommodation services.

The measure kicked in on 19 June and was available until the closure of all accommodation facilities during the autumn lockdown in late October.

The government first set down that the vouchers would be valid until the end of 2020, however already prior to the closure of hotels it acknowledged the possibility of extending the validity period.

The Financial Administration (FURS) data show that by 1 October some 883,100 vouchers worth EUR 113,74 million were redeemed.

Over two million persons received the vouchers, with the total value of the measure being EUR 356.9 million.

Holiday vouchers saved the summer tourism season in various places, particularly on the coast, in mountain resorts and spas.

On the other hand, the measure barely had an impact on the situation of accommodation providers in cities, and certain other destinations more popular among foreign tourists.

According to the latest report on tourist voucher consumption by the Financial Administration (FURS), 25% of all beneficiaries had used their voucher or part of it by August 23, which amounts to 69,797,643 EUR spent, or 19,6% of the entire 356,858,450 EUR sum value. On average people spent 136.43 EUR of the voucher and were on average 38.4 years old.

Furthermore, FURS reports that 55,754  beneficiaries transferred their vouchers to someone else and that the average age of those passing on the money was  64.3 years.

In terms of geography, leading the list of top ten municipalities where most vouchers have been spent is Piran, followed by Kranjska gora and Bohinj.

Distribution of cashed vouchers by region:

Municipalities according to vouchers spent:

Where did people from Ljubljana spend their vouchers?

Where did people from Maribor spend their vouchers?

Where did people from Kranj spend their vouchers?

Where did people from Koper spend their vouchers?:

Where did people from Novo Mesto spend their vouchers?:

Where did visitors to Piran mostly come from?:

Where did visitors to Ljubljana come from?:

People using their vouchers mostly decided to stay in hotels, with the following places most popular in each of the categories:

STA, 20 July 2020 - Roughly 130,000 Slovenian residents have redeemed state-sponsored tourism vouchers worth EUR 20 million in the first month since the launch of a scheme designed to help the Slovenian tourism industry recover from the coronavirus epidemic.

The rate at which the vouchers are redeemed has been growing and more than 20,000 bookings have already been made for the coming days, Financial Administration director Peter Jenko told the press on Monday.

The bulk of the vouchers were redeemed at the most popular tourism destinations: coastal resorts, Gorenjska region and spas. Some 44% were spent on hotels, 20% for self-service apartments and roughly a tenth in campsites, he said.

Most people redeem just a portion of the voucher at one time, which means that many of the 130,000 who redeemed theirs still have credit.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the figures showed the scheme was a success and people see the stimulus money as sensible.

Počivalšek being the author of the scheme, some have taken to calling the vouchers "Počivoucher", which the minister says showed "people have a positive attitude to this measure".

Vouchers worth a total of EUR 345 million, EUR 200 per adult and EUR 50 per underage resident, were introduced as part of measures to help the tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The vouchers are seen as a much needed boost for local tourism, although they will not be able to fully offset the shortfall of revenue generated by foreign guests.

Learn more about Slovenia’s tourism vouchers

The €200 tourist vouchers that every permanent adult resident in Slovenia is set to receive, along with €50 for every child, can be transferred to relatives if wanted. The law allows tourist vouchers to be transferred between the beneficiary's second degree relatives in a straight line. This includes transfers between parents and children, grandparents and children, between spouses or partners and between children and their legal guardians. Vouchers can’t be transmitted between brothers and sisters, cousins, friends etc.

The Financial Administration (FURS) has prepared instructions on how to use the transferred vouchers. In the process of transfer, the original holder of the voucher needs to fill out and sign a statement in which they give their voucher to their relative to use. The statement then needs to be presented to the hotel receptionist along with a valid ID of the guest, and not sent to FURS or any of its offices.

The tourist vouchers every permanent resident of Slovenia will receive to be spent on accommodation (with our without breakfast) from June 19, 2020 on can also be used for accommodation in mountain huts.

"In the Alpine Association of Slovenia we are happy that parts of vouchers can be spent in mountain huts as well, and we therefore wish for as many Slovenians as possible to spend their holidays in the embrace of the mountains this year. We are pleased that the decision-makers recognized our arguments and found solutions for us in the preparation of the regulation. I would especially like to thank the Slovenian government, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Directorate for Tourism and MP Mateja Udovč," said Secretary General of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, Matej Planko.

A word of warning though, if you’d like to go to the mountains with your voucher. Although the internet connections in huts are mostly reliable, if there’s any lost connectivity with the FURS website, required for your voucher to be cashed in, then you’ll have to pay for the accommodation out of your own pocket, then the service provider will send a certificate to FURS who will then return the money paid and deduct it from your voucher.