Nova Gorica Tourist Association

The Nova Gorica Tourist Association, founded in 1952, plays an important role in shaping the urban environment, raising awareness about tourism, promoting hospitality, organising events and promoting the city. Its predecessor, the Gorizia Tourist and Beautification Society, was established on 24 August 1952 in Solkan, in the cinema hall on Soška Street 1, as the first organisation of its kind in the Gorizia district.

Its founding was linked to the broader development of tourism in Yugoslavia, which remained secondary to economic priorities until the 1950s, when it began gaining importance with the support of the Slovenian Tourist Association. From the outset, the society focused on promoting excursions, improving the environment, preserving natural and cultural heritage, and developing tourism infrastructure.

One of its first major projects was the construction of a campsite in Kromberk, where an Olympic swimming pool was added in 1953 and operated until 1977. After the opening of local border crossings in 1955, the number of Italian visitors increased significantly, especially during the 1960s. The society responded by improving roads, hospitality facilities and tourism infrastructure, and also managed a restaurant on Sveta Gora.

The society expanded its activities in Nova Gorica, opening a tourist office on Delpinova Street in 1958. It reached its peak in 1973, before entering a period of crisis linked to shifts in tourism policy, which favoured mass tourism and large-scale developments.

A revival began after 1986, in part through broader promotional campaigns such as Slovenia, My Country, which fostered a more positive public attitude toward tourism. The society organised numerous initiatives, including the Nova Gorica – My Mirror campaign, the Rose Festival (since 1994), the planting of 11,000 roses, and various cultural and recreational events.

Today, the society remains an important local actor, contributing through voluntary work to tourism development, quality of life and the city’s identity.

Avtor: Jasna Fakin Bajec

Kraj: Nova Gorica

Vir:

• Maffi, Gorazd. 2002. Čemu turistične društvene dejavnosti. V: Valič Milovan (ur.) Turistično društvo Nova Gorica: 50 let Turističnega društva Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica: upravni odbor TD, str. 7-8. 
• Kolenc, Rajmund. 2002. Kratek sprehod po prehojeni poti. V Valič Milovan (ur.) Turistično društvo Nova Gorica: 50 let Turističnega društva Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica: upravni odbor TD, str. 9-12. 
• Repe, Božo. 2006. Turistična zveza in razvoj turizma v Sloveniji po drugi svetovni vojni. V: Turizem smo ljudje: zbornik ob 100. letnici ustanovitve Deželne zveze za pospeševanje prometa tujcev na Kranjskem, Turistične zveze Slovenije in organiziranega turizma v Sloveniji. J. Bogataj (ur.), O. J. Zorn, S. Polak (ur.), S. Šajn (ur.). Ljubljana: Turistična zveza Slovenije, str. 61–99
• Kolenc, Petra in Kosovel, Blaž (ur.). 2022. »S ciljem olepševati mesto …«. Ob 70-letnici delovanja Turističnega društva Nova Gorica 1952-2022. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. 

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