Stakeholder’s point of view: interview with Janko Mlakar, RUSTIKA – Arts and craft gallery at Ljubljana Castle
Considering your gallery is located within the castle premises, do you see this as an advantage?
The location, including our offer, which introduces DUO products with the quality label, is very important. We have used this model years ago in the preparation of the business plan for important tourist points throughout Slovenia, because it embodies our heritage and also serves as an exceptional promotional effect for our tourism. The project is the result of tight cooperation and mutual understanding of MOL and the castle’s management.
How do visitors of the castle respond to your offer?
The response of visitors (tourists) is excellent, but there is the issue of guides, which was also stressed in Maribor. This problem represents a huge critical point in the tourist offer. But what’s also important is the structure of tourists – expected upper middle class.
Could we also see the latter as the origin of the integration of cultural heritage and creative industry?
Integration of culture, tourism and creative industry is the foundation, along with our focus on the upper middle class and the accompanying offer.
What else would you like to convey or propose to local authorities?
The local and national authority should be aware that tourism is a very important economic activity for Slovenia. This means that we expect from our visitors to spend and create added value, and we help them achieve this with the state-of-the-art offer on all levels. Quality offer – satisfied tourist. This is also confirmed by our work in Rustika, but unfortunately that’s as far as it goes.
What would you propose for tighter integration of culture, tourism and creative industry?
I think that Slovenia needs a tourist cluster, which would combine various activities in the spirit of a high-quality offer, and which would generate an economic effect that would produce good results in a short period time with the support of efficient performance.