Maribor, Slovenia – The SMITour Project recently concluded a significant two-day event in Maribor, Slovenia, hosted by local research and development institution E-Zavod. The gathering featured the project’s 5th Partners and Technical Meeting alongside a Public Workshop/Innovation Camp focused on the “Challenges and Opportunities of Industrial Tourism in Slovenia and the Mediterranean Region.”
On June 11, 2025, the SMITour project held its fourth Innovation Camp/Workshop. This dynamic event brought together partners and local stakeholders from the tourism sector, educational and research institutions, and decision makers. The workshop focused on the crucial aspects of industrial tourism both within Slovenia and across the broader Mediterranean region with focuses and presentations targeted on Sloveninan Styria (Stajerska) implementing tourism strategy. Hosted at the Regional Development Agency for Podravje-Maribor in Creative Park Drava, the discussions were notably insightful, fostering a deeper understanding of the sector’s current landscape.
Attendees heard compelling keynote speeches, including valuable perspectives on sustainable and industrial tourism from Dr. Barbara Pavlakovi
Farrell of the University of Maribor, and insights on “Destination Štajerska” from Karmen Razlag of the Regional Development Agency for Podravje – Maribor. Participants then actively engaged in dynamic Dialogue Tables, brainstorming innovative ways to develop industrial tourism activities and products, exploring how to redefine existing industrial spaces with SMART technologies, and strategizing on improving specific pilot locations.
The working tables became a hub for collecting information, data, and development elements. This was done by comparing challenges and their considered solutions across three distinct potential scenarios for local and European industrial tourism, which served as a crucial foundation for subsequent co-design efforts. These insights then culminated in a final discussion that synthesized the key results and recommendations.
On the day prior, the SMITour project’s 5th Partners and Steering Committee meeting successfully wrapped up. Partners engaged in critical discussions, making substantial headway in shaping project’s Smart Industrial Tourism Strategy and Action Plan document. Productive sessions advanced the co-design of a common strategy for the Mediterranean, reviewed joint thematic roadmaps, and set the stage for their final event in Rjeka (Croatia) planned for mid-November 2025,
This two-day session also featured two fascinating study visits, providing immersive experiences into the industrial tourism landscape of the Maribor area.
The first took participants on an engaging journey to the Submerged Villages of Velenje in the Šalek Valley. Partners explored a section of the old mine, reaching it via the historic 1888 elevator, which remarkably remained fully operational. This experience offered a vivid step back in time, uncovering a world rich with stories and the tangible realities of mining life. The visit concluded with a discovery of the remnants of villages swallowed by the lake, formed due to local coal mining subsidence, brought to life through an exciting VR reconstruction available by using advanced HD viewers.
The second immersive experience plunged participants into ROVI TEZNO in Maribor Tezno. This area, with its incredible underground tunnel system, served as a crucial, clandestine hub for a German wartime aircraft factory. It provided a chilling yet fascinating glimpse into a significant piece of Maribor’s industrial and historical past. Rovi Tezno effectively showcased Maribor’s ability to integrate its rich historical foundations with the dynamic evolution of its present-day urban landscape.
