'I Feel Slovenia Night' basketball game and 'Texas Feels Slovenia' Business Conference with Slovenian Tourism Workshop postponed until autumn

10. 3. 2020

Government Communication Office

At the beginning of the year, Slovenia entered into a partnership with several institutions and the NBA Dallas Mavericks where Luka Dončić also plays. Within this partnership, the game at I FEEL SLOVENIA Night was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 11 March 2020. Due to the uncertainty brought about by the spread of the coronavirus, the expected decline in American tourists visiting Europe and the increasingly restrictive measures recommended by the responsible authorities, the institutions comprising the Government Communication Office (GCO), Slovenian Tourist Board (STB), Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investments and Technology (SPIRIT Slovenia), Tourism Ljubljana and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after careful consideration and consultation with key stakeholders, decided that the I Feel Slovenia Night and the Texas Feels Slovenia Business Conference with the Slovenian Tourism Workshop scheduled to take place the day after the match on 12 March 2020, should be postponed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a notice on Friday advising Slovenian citizens to postpone all non-urgent travel abroad. The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) issued a statement on Saturday that the risk level of transmission of the new coronavirus has increased, which prompted the Minister of Health to issue an Order prohibiting gathering at public events. The order bans indoor public events in the Republic of Slovenia expecting more than 500 visitors. The order applies for as long as the risk of spreading the contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19 disease) exists. On the Government's website there is an additional recommendation for event organisers to consider banning other smaller events where fewer people are expected to gather due to the increased epidemiological risk.

Due to the current and increasingly unpredictable conditions caused by the outbreak of the new coronavirus and the increased number of infections in the US and in Slovenia, and due to the large-scale postoponement of fairs, conferences and other events by all organisations, all participating institutions agree that the economic and tourism goals set for the event cannot be reached for the time being, we will therefore postpone the event to when the global market starts to recover and we are able to intensify promotional activities.