Seaside Resort in Slovenia Promotes Itself With NFTs

The tourism organization in Portorož, a summer resort on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia, has decided to promote the destination using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The project represents the digital component of this year’s campaign to attract visitors to the region.

Shortly after the Slovenian Tourist Board (STB) issued a “sLOVEnia NFT” last month, Portorož, in the southwestern municipality of Piran, has now become the country’s first resort with its own non-fungible tokens. The main goal of the initiative is to showcase the two coastal towns as progressive, digital, and sustainable destinations, local media reported.

“The door to the metaverse is opening, which will be a new market for future generations,” Alexander Valentin, director of the Portorož Tourist Association, has been quoted as stating during a presentation devoted to the innovations in Portorož.

The new “destination NFTs” are meant to win visitors’ loyalty. Tourists will be able to collect three tokens from three different collections, when they perform three activities: participate in a prize game, subscribe to a newsletter, and share a sticker on Instagram with the resort’s @portorozpiran account. 100 NFTs are available in each collection.

On April 20, Slovenia launched a campaign under the “We Are Here” banner in the country and six other nations — Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It is aimed at spreading the country’s presence as a travel destination to more markets. Nine tourist service providers are participating and more are expected to join, the Primorske Novice news outlet reported.

Besides entering the crypto world through the NFT initiative, Portorož and Piran are also increasing their promotional activities on social media. The towns have recently joined the short-form video platform Tiktok, the publication revealed.

In recent years, the small, bitcoin-friendly nation of Slovenia established itself as a leader in crypto adoption in Southeast Europe. Thousands of cafés, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, and sports facilities across the country accept various cryptocurrencies. Last fall, the authorities in Ljubljana opened public consultations on a draft law regulating crypto taxation.

Do you expect other resorts in Slovenia and the region to issue NFTs for promotional purposes? Tell us in the comments section below.