Slovenian Postojna Cave recorded 35 million visitors
On 16 July this year in the Postojna Cave, the most popular natural tourist attraction in Slovenija,which was visited on the first day also by participants of the 50thFIJET Congress in the year 1998 in Slovenia, the 35-millionth visitor was welcomed. The lucky visitor was PawełPiatkiewicz from Poland, who visited the cave with his family.
The visitor No. 34,999,999 was Ms Sofie Steffens from Germany and the visitor No. 35,000,001, Mr Wang Jian Qui from China. Postojna Cave visitors have been counted ever since the year 1819, when the cave was visited by the Austrian heir to the throne Ferdinand, the first officially recorded visitor to the cave. From that year onwards, the splendours of the cave have been admired by millions of fascinated visitors from all over the world, including numerous guests of aristocratic descent, state presidents and prime ministers, scientists, artists, athletes and, last but not least, a large number of tourists. They all have something in common: they have been fascinated by Postojna Cave with its 21 km of passages, galleries and magnificent halls in the underground world. The most recent prominent guests were the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan.Postojna Cave is nowadays the most important tourist facility in both Slovenia and the wider area- it is namely visited by a third of all visitors to Slovenia, which equals to more than 750,000 visitors, points out Mr Marjan Batagelj, the chairman of Postojna Cave management. A number of new services and features are prepared for visitors to Postojna Cave every year. In this year itboasts a number of restaurants and other dining establishments that have been completely modernised. Services provided by the self-service restaurant with a pizzeria and the Proteus Restaurant and Apartments are supplemented by the PâtisserieBriljant, which was opened in the spring and offers a great variety of home-made pastries and cakes, as well as Modrijan Homestead, which features a new barn, architecturally well placed in the setting, where guests can indulge in grilled and charcoal grilled specialities. Visitors who travel with dogs of any size are most welcome to use any of the newly landscaped footpaths with numerous horticultural features in the entire park, as well as kennels, where pets can be left free of charge, so visitors can enjoy cave tours without having to worry about their animals. Postojna Cave has thus become the first pet-friendly tourist destinations as well. In Postojna Cave and the Proteus Caveaudio guides with explanations in 15 different world languages are available, including Far East languages The main focus of attention and care is however the natural monuments itself–the Postojna Cave. Inside the cave, new cold lighting has been installed at the Brilliant and the Great Dome, which enhances the magical beauty and splendour of the cave even more. Last but not least, a large number of state and other prominent visitors make the Postojna cave a prominent state protocol destination. In the last three months alone in the cave the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor, the Speaker of the Indian ParliamentMeira Kumar, the President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Crown Prince and Princess Akishinoof Japan and some other business and political delegations visiting Slovenia were hosted.