Page 155 - Koderman, Miha, and Vuk Tvrtko Opačić. Eds. 2020. Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia. Koper, Zagreb: University of Primorska Press, Croatian Geographical Society
P. 155
development of tourism and second homes in the area of sviščaki ...
al beds will be furnished, while the outside image of the hut will stay the
same. The hut will offer 19 beds in four rooms with proper sanitary facili-
ties (Francek Ivović, 2018b; Kirn Vodopivec, 2019a; 2019b).
The visitors can park their vehicles in the car park on the eastern side
of Sviščaki. The reconstruction of an approximately seven-kilometre sec-
tion of the nearby state road (completed in November 2019) included the re-
construction of embankments and retaining walls, the implementation of
loading ramps for felled timber, and the installation of steel protective rails
(Kirn Vodopivec, 2019a).
Development of the second homes in Sviščaki
The construction of the mountain hut and the development of skiing gave
rise to the popularity of Sviščaki, which gave rise to new possibilities for
the development of a smaller tourism and recreational centre. With the as-
sent of the Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica, the first holiday huts were built
by the local companies Lesonit, Topol, Transport, Ilirija, etc. in the 1960s
and were intended for the companies’ employees to use for vacation (even
before the new mountain hut was finished), although Sviščaki were still
without electricity at the time (Čeligoj, 2000d). In 1967, the Municipality of
Ilirska Bistrica passed The Ordinance of the Development Plan for the Area
of Sviščaki (1967) and The Rules on the Implementation of the Development
Plan for the Area of Sviščaki (1967), and thus defined the Sviščaki area as
a construction land zone, intended for the construction of second homes,
which accelerated the building of houses.
The holiday settlement Sviščaki (an agglomeration of second home
dwellings) spreads over an area of approximately 8 hectares (Slovenian
Forest Service, 2013). The first houses were built at the edge of a clearing
by the mountain hut on Veliki Sviščaki (Fig. 2). The construction of hous-
es soon spread from the forest clearing towards the gravel road that runs
to Mali Sviščaki—where we find most new construction. These are located
somewhat higher, above the bottom of the shallow doline, with tempera-
ture inversion typically occurring in the colder part of the year. There is
an 18.5 km state road leading from the largest centre in the vicinity, Ilirska
Bistrica, to Sviščaki. In the last decade, the number of inhabitants in the
settlement of Snežnik, of which Sviščaki is a part, varied between 17 and
25. There were 19 people living permanently in the settlement in 2019, 10
of which were male (Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, 2019).
153
al beds will be furnished, while the outside image of the hut will stay the
same. The hut will offer 19 beds in four rooms with proper sanitary facili-
ties (Francek Ivović, 2018b; Kirn Vodopivec, 2019a; 2019b).
The visitors can park their vehicles in the car park on the eastern side
of Sviščaki. The reconstruction of an approximately seven-kilometre sec-
tion of the nearby state road (completed in November 2019) included the re-
construction of embankments and retaining walls, the implementation of
loading ramps for felled timber, and the installation of steel protective rails
(Kirn Vodopivec, 2019a).
Development of the second homes in Sviščaki
The construction of the mountain hut and the development of skiing gave
rise to the popularity of Sviščaki, which gave rise to new possibilities for
the development of a smaller tourism and recreational centre. With the as-
sent of the Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica, the first holiday huts were built
by the local companies Lesonit, Topol, Transport, Ilirija, etc. in the 1960s
and were intended for the companies’ employees to use for vacation (even
before the new mountain hut was finished), although Sviščaki were still
without electricity at the time (Čeligoj, 2000d). In 1967, the Municipality of
Ilirska Bistrica passed The Ordinance of the Development Plan for the Area
of Sviščaki (1967) and The Rules on the Implementation of the Development
Plan for the Area of Sviščaki (1967), and thus defined the Sviščaki area as
a construction land zone, intended for the construction of second homes,
which accelerated the building of houses.
The holiday settlement Sviščaki (an agglomeration of second home
dwellings) spreads over an area of approximately 8 hectares (Slovenian
Forest Service, 2013). The first houses were built at the edge of a clearing
by the mountain hut on Veliki Sviščaki (Fig. 2). The construction of hous-
es soon spread from the forest clearing towards the gravel road that runs
to Mali Sviščaki—where we find most new construction. These are located
somewhat higher, above the bottom of the shallow doline, with tempera-
ture inversion typically occurring in the colder part of the year. There is
an 18.5 km state road leading from the largest centre in the vicinity, Ilirska
Bistrica, to Sviščaki. In the last decade, the number of inhabitants in the
settlement of Snežnik, of which Sviščaki is a part, varied between 17 and
25. There were 19 people living permanently in the settlement in 2019, 10
of which were male (Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, 2019).
153
