638 TOURISM LAW IN EUROPE 2. ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION OF TOURISM 2.1. Organisations in the Tourism Sector The central piece of legislation dealing with the organisation of tourism in Slovenia is the Promotion of Tourism Development Act4 of 2018. The Act sets up the central national agency for the promotion of tourism, the Slovenian Tourist Board (Slo. “Slovenska turistična organizacija”)5, which is tasked with planning and carrying out the marketing of Slovenia’s comprehensive tourist products and services and ensuring the sustainable development of Slovenian tourism. Its registered office is in Ljubljana, but it also has representative offices and information offices in Italy, Austria and Germany. The Board is also responsible for providing and managing the tourist information infrastructure, coordinating the development of national tourist products, promoting Slovenian tourism abroad, stakeholder networking and undertaking research and development in the tourism field. At the regional level of tourism governance, tourism development is undertaken by twelve regional development agencies. The Tourism and Hospitality Chamber of Slovenia (Slo. “Turistično gostinska zbornica Slovenije”)6 represents the interests of the Slovenian tourism industry and in their relationship with national authorities and European industry associations and exercises the following public powers: a) licensing of tourist agencies and the keeping of a register of issued licences; b) conducting state examinations for tourist guides, keeping a register of guides, and issuing guide cards; and c) categorise accommodation establishments. The Tourism Association of Slovenia (Slo. “Turistična zveza Slovenije”)7 is the oldest non-governmental civil tourism association in Slovenia, which incorporates more than 655 local tourist societies with several thousand members throughout the country. There are some tourism cluster associations at the national level representing their members’ interests, such as the 4 “Zakon o spodbujanju razvoja turizma”, Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 13/18. 5 Source: www.slovenia.info. 6 Source: www.tgzs.si. 7 Source: www.turisticna-zveza.si.
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