In addition to the Communication Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, our partners in the project are the Slovenian Tourist Board, AmCham Slovenia, SPIRIT Slovenia and Tourism Ljubljana, and we believe that the partnership is a unique opportunity for Slovenia's promotion in the US and globally. We share one common goal: to enhance Slovenia's visibility among the American public and to open the door to economic and tourism opportunities. 

The agreed promotional activities for Slovenia will be carried out by the Dallas Mavericks club for two seasons through the advertising of the national tourism brand I feel Slovenia.  Activities will start on 11 March 2020 with a game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets clubs, when Slovenia's tourist brand will be the particular focus of attention, since the match will be followed by the "I Feel Slovenia Night".

The Communication Office's Mateja Malnar Štembal believes that cooperation will be fruitful. “The power and visibility of the I feel Slovenia brand is widespread. We are a small country where partial activities do not bring much success.  The unique, extraordinary and mass approaches such as this project are those that arouse people's interest and attract them to attend an event. Sport has a domino effect that connects people, brings out their pride and a sense of belonging. We also have top fans who play an important role as motivators and always make sure that the spirit of Slovenia is actually felt at games. Feeling Slovenia does not only mean that we are adorning ourselves with national symbols. It is more of an export of emotional experience," Malnar explained.

Americans are the third most frequent tourists in Slovenia, which makes enhancing Slovenia's visibility on the American market so extremely important, confirmed the Slovenian Tourist Board's Director Maja Pak. “These are tourists with greater than average spending and who like to travel out of the high season. We have been seeing a steady increase in the number of tourists from the US, especially over the past three years. The number of American tourists increased last year by 8%," said Pak.

In addition to enhanced cooperation in the field of tourism, Slovenia is also looking for new business cooperation opportunities. Slovenian businesses will also have the opportunity to better present themselves at a special "Texas Feels Slovenia" business conference, which will be organised in conjunction with AmCham the day after the match, on 12 March 2020.  The conference will give Slovenia the opportunity to present itself to Texas as a potential economic partner.  Texas is the 10^th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP.