On March 15th the presentation “Spring on Lošinj in the sign of cycling” was held in Makalonca caffe on the river Ljubljanica. The rich heritage of the Lošinj island was presented with an emphasis on the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup Lošinj.
In the special atmosphere of the cafe Makalonca, on the river Ljubljanica, after the welcome speech of Metka Bradetić, the director of the Croatian Tourist Board in Slovenia and Urša Poznić Goršek, the director of Trbovlje municipality, the director of the Mali Lošinj Tourist Board Dalibor Cvitković and the representative of MTB Trbovlje Sebastjan Zmrzljak (the main organizer of Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup Lošinj) presented the tourist offer of the Island of vitality and the upcoming world cycling competition. Valentina Muškardin from Lošinj Hotels & Villas and Barbara Božić, representative of the company “Lošinjska plovba in turizem” also joined the presentation.
Thanks to the excellent cooperation between Slovenian MTB Trbovlje, the town of Mali Lošinj and the Mali Lošinj Tourist Board, the unique extreme cycling race Mountain Bike World Cup Lošinj will take place in Lošinj from April 19th to 22nd, 2018.
About three hundred competitors from all over the world will take part in extreme cycling race. This is the first example of a World Cup competition in the urban areas of Veli Lošinj with the finish line on the coast. Director of the organization of the Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup of Lošinj and member of the MTB Trbovlje – Sebastjan Zmrzljak showed his satisfaction with the cooperation of the Slovene MTB Trbovlje and the Croatian club AK Lošinj. He stated that the World Cup will surely be something special for Lošinj and for competitors, given the extremely technically demanding route. According to the information so far, a large number of Slovenian competitors is expected. The biggest websites that represent cycling are interested in announcing this event due to the uniqueness of the race and the very end of the track, which is for some controversial because it is located on the cape, which will happen for the first time in the World Cup. On these tracks have already trained the world champions Loic Bruni and Miranda Miller.
In addition to the interesting leisure offer, Lošinj has also a rich maritime heritage, which is presented throughout the year in museums and festivals. Lošinj was the only place on the eastern Adriatic where the sailing boats were specially designed for regattas and were also used for excursions and fishing. From these pasaras, a national class of L-5 sailing boats was created, which was designed by Anton Martinolić from Lošinj. On the basis of the old photographs that showed the regattas of pasara boats in the bay of Mali Lošinj and according to the original plans, two Lošinj racing pasara boats were created. Therefore, within the framework of the presentation, the famous Lošinj pasara sailed up the Ljubljanica and invited all the viewers to the Lošinj maritime world.
Visitors also had the opportunity to taste Lošinj delicacies in the performance of top chefs Melkior Bašić and Zlatko Belužić and the sommelier Kristijan Meraskamija. Band Čikat from Lošinj entertained guests with their special music performance.
The director of the Mali Lošinj Tourist Board, Dalibor Cvitković, emphasized the excellent cooperation of the Croatian Tourist Board in Slovenia and the Mali Lošinj Tourist Board. For many years Slovenian guests have been the loyal visitors to the island of Lošinj. They are especially important in the period before and after the season, when, thanks to the offer, they are the most numerous guests in Lošinj. The Slovenian share in overnight stays is 26%, while in the previous year the number of overnight stays and arrivals of Slovenian guests increased.
The presentation was prepared in cooperation with the town of Mali Lošinj, the Mali Lošinj Tourist Board, the Croatian Tourist Board in Slovenia, the companies Lošinj Hotels & Villas, MTB Trbovlje and the Athletic Club Lošinj.
