Slovenia is a beautiful country with wonderful mountains and great skiing. It also has some Adriatic coast line, but only a short stretch of it, about 30 miles. The country has a prosperous economy, but it is looking for growth in new areas and one such area is tourism. The tourism although important does today only count for 5.5% of the GDP. Slovenia would like that percentage to almost double by 2011. And while it has great hopes for the future of tourism it also has created some great plans.
So now Slovenia plans to build a fake island outside its coast that will be connected to the mainland with a bridge. The island will be 30,000 square meters or 7.4 acres and it will be surrounded by beaches, and will have bars, restaurants, a wellness center, and a marina. The project is estimated to cost $130 million. The government plans to invest 30% of the amount, the rest is supposed to come from the Europen Union funds and outside investors. The building is planned to take place between 2013 and 2020.
The first thought brings a nightmare vision: A landfill right in the clear blue Adriatic Sea in front of an amazingly beautiful coast line, and not only that, but the place is supposed to be saturated with tourist services. And why build a fake island just next to Croatia’s great archipelago of islands with striking natural beauty?
But of course the idea is somewhat intriguing too. Anyway, it is amazing what can be done with European Union money. Spain used them wisely to rebuild and expand its infrastructure using the world’s top architects and has in the process greatly enhanced the beauty and interest of the entire country.
Dubai, which is not a E.U. member but has plenty of its own money, is in the process of developing some quite impressive island projects, as reported by us before, the Palm Islands and the World. But Dubai is not located in the Mediterranean, so its challenge is to build something of such spectacular proportion that people will come even though Dubai is out of the way for most people.
Well, let’s hope that Slovenia has a great plan and that the artificial island will turn out spectacular. But many challenges and temptations will lie ahead before the project will be completed. Good luck!
Click here to see our previous article including Slovenia.