Izola Marina expanding to claim leading spot in Slovenian Istria

The EUR 2.3 million investment resulted in the new pier, providing berths for vessels up to 12 metres in length. The Izola marina now has more berths than its rival in Portorož, another popular seaside resort in Slovenia, the municipality of Izola told the STA.

"Currently, there are more than 600 vessels in the Izola marina," Vladimir Gavran, director of the marina operator Porting, told the STA, adding that there was a lot of interest in booking berths there, including among foreigners, who are mainly from German-speaking countries.

Due to inflation and higher costs, Porting raised prices last week. The increase in berthing fees of some 5% is less than half of the increase in the company's costs, so marina users will not shoulder the burden of price hikes alone, Gavran said.

After two years of Covid, the municipality is now seeing the return to 2019 levels or even an improvement on pre-Covid indicators.

In the future, the local authorities seek to spruce up the marina to make it even more user-friendly now that guests are returning.

Last year saw a 24% increase in arrivals and a 16% increase in tourist overnight stays compared to 2021. Slovenian guests accounted for 57% of total arrivals and 62% of total overnight stays, the municipality said, noting that foreign guests were also returning.

The number of visitor arrivals from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic is even higher than in the pre-Covid period, and in addition to these countries most foreign visitors come from Hungary and Italy.