The Complete Guide to Using AI in the Hospitality Industry in Slovenia in 2025

Slovenia's tourism scene in 2025 is at a practical AI tipping point: national dialogue and events like the STB's IT Tour highlight real pilots - from AI-driven guest guides and 3D historical avatars to food‑waste forecasting - that prove technology can free staff from routine work and add measurable value to experiences; research shows many SME managers are cautiously optimistic but need targeted training, especially older or family‑run businesses, to move from curiosity to use (Academica Turistica study on AI in Slovenian tourism).

Practical hospitality tools such as digital concierges can already handle roughly 60% of routine guest interactions, enabling hoteliers to reallocate time to service and storytelling, while national strategy discussions push for competitiveness and education (Slovenian Tourist Board IT Tour report on AI in tourism).

For teams ready to upskill, the 15‑week Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp offers applied training in prompts and workplace AI use to bridge that gap (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work registration).

“AI is a tool that requires personal engagement… When it comes to AI, we must delve into the considerations of when, why, and how to employ it - and, equally crucial - when, why, and how not to.” - MSc. Maja Pak, Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board

Slovenia's national AI roadmap is a pragmatic mix of strategy and sectoral tools: the National Programme for the Development and Use of AI (NpUI) lays out clear strategic objectives to 2025 - building a supportive ecosystem for research and innovation, strengthening industrial capacity, moving solutions from lab to market, investing in data and computing infrastructure, and creating ethical and legal safeguards - backed by roughly EUR 110 million in public funding and a plan to monitor progress via a national AI observatory (AI Watch report on Slovenia's National Programme for the Development and Use of AI (NpUI)).

In tourism, that high-level agenda has a concrete expression in the Slovenian Tourist Board's new National Intelligence System for Tourism (NiST): a centralised, beta-stage platform that links fragmented data, offers training and stakeholder support, and will deliver 60 indicators with 30 use cases and 70 interactive visualisations by year‑end so destinations and hotels can monitor everything from seasonality to “pressure of accommodation establishments on space” (Slovenian Tourist Board NiST launch: National Intelligence System for Tourism features).

The combination of NpUI's national priorities and NiST's tourism dashboards means hoteliers and local managers can move from anecdote to evidence - spotting seasonal spikes on a map and making timely, sustainability-minded choices rather than reacting after the fact.

“We have made a clear choice to develop tourism intelligently and sustainably – not just aiming for more, but striving for better, with greater respect for space, nature and people... it gives us the tools to understand where we are headed, why we're going there, and when it's time to say ‘enough'.” - Matjaž Han, Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport

Alma, the Slovenian Tourist Board's ChatGPT-based virtual travel advisor, has quickly become a practical example of public‑sector AI in Slovenia: launched in late May 2024 and named after explorer Alma M. Karlin, Alma runs on OpenAI's GPT‑4.1, speaks seven languages, integrates tightly with the slovenia.info search engine, and personalises suggestions by drawing on the STO database and over 50 curated tourist sites with hourly updates - effectively acting as a multilingual concierge that can handle the workload

equivalent to a comprehensive team of tourism professionals

24/7.

Built by Creatim with attention to data minimisation and GDPR‑style safeguards (no mandatory personal data collection, anonymised feedback, ISO/IEC 27001 practices and encrypted storage), Alma is designed to boost conversions, surface actionable insights for marketing, and guide visitors to relevant itineraries, tips and local services; it's one of the first AI assistants in Slovenian tourism and a model for how destinations can combine quality content, AI context and privacy-aware operations.

Try Alma, the Slovenian Tourist Board AI travel advisor, on slovenia.info to see how an assistant can turn fragmented pages into instant, personalised advice, or read Creatim's case study on the project for technical and data‑design details.

Practical pilots in Slovenia show AI moving from proof‑of‑concept to day‑to‑day hospitality gains: Jezeršek Catering's Food IQ combines smart scales and AI‑based photo analysis to segment and measure plate waste and even predict dish sales at events, cutting food waste by about 10% (roughly 1,000 kg) in nine months and avoiding an estimated 14 tonnes of CO2 while trimming procurement costs - read the Jezeršek Food IQ food waste reduction case study for the details (Jezeršek Food IQ food waste reduction case study).

That operational work is mirrored by funded pilots and tooling: the EFMEH project (smart scales, attendance tracking, BI and redistribution systems) backs broader rollout with a €331,614.40 budget and HaDEA co‑financing, targeting measurable waste and emissions cuts across events (EFMEH Efficient Food Management in Event Hospitality project details).

Events and knowledge exchanges such as the Slovenian Tourist Board's IT Tour have amplified these learnings - showcasing Jezeršek and other pilots so hoteliers and event managers can adopt techniques (from on‑site smart scales to predictive sales models) that save money, reduce carbon, and make sustainability a visible part of guest experience (Slovenian Tourist Board IT Tour AI in tourism showcase), turning AI from an abstract opportunity into tangible, testable steps for operators across Slovenia.

“AI will not replace industry employees; those proficient in leveraging AI will outshine their counterparts.”

Slovenia's hospitality AI landscape today mixes global generative models with hands‑on local platforms: IT Tour speakers highlighted GPT tools for guest chat and ideation alongside image generators such as Midjourney and DALL·E 3 and open models like Stable Diffusion for marketing visuals, while Slovenian pilots pair those capabilities with vendors and applications on the ground - Giro's Hopguides for AI digital guides, Vandri.io's 3D avatars (think Herman Potočnik Noordung holding an interactive conversation), DIGI‑SI's virtual receptionist demos, the maPZS trail app for real‑time outdoors info, and Jezeršek's Food IQ for smart scales and food‑waste prediction.

These combos - GPT plugins and virtual receptionists for routine queries, image‑generation for content, and avatar + analytics for storytelling - create practical toolchains hotels can test quickly; see the STB coverage of the IT Tour for workshop highlights and demo use cases (STB press release: AI in Slovenian tourism - IT Tour coverage) and the event page with hands‑on sessions on Midjourney, avatars and GPT tools (IT Tour 2023 hands-on AI sessions: Midjourney, avatars, and GPT tools), giving operators a clear menu of vendors and capabilities to pilot before scaling.

“AI is a tool that requires personal engagement… When it comes to AI, we must delve into the considerations of when, why, and how to employ it - and, equally crucial - when, why, and how not to.” - MSc. Maja Pak, Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board

Slovenia's 2025 regulatory picture is now firmly framed by the EU's risk‑based AI rules and national steps to put them into practice: the government has adopted a proposal to implement the EU AI Act - designating supervisory authorities, creating regulatory sandboxes for safe testing, and even allowing for an AI Ethics Commissioner to be named - which positions Slovenia among the leading EU Member States on AI governance (Slovenia government AI Act implementation proposal (164th session)).

For hospitality operators that means classifying systems (from chatbots to facial‑recognition check‑ins), following the Act's transparency and human‑oversight rules, and treating high‑risk uses - such as certain recruitment tools or biometric ID systems - with strict impact assessments, bias mitigation, detailed recordkeeping and ongoing monitoring as explained in EU guidance for tourism and employers (EU AI Act guidance for tourism and hospitality (Garrigues), AI in recruitment: employer obligations under the EU AI Act (CMS)).

Practical takeaway: even seemingly low‑risk tools like virtual assistants must be transparent to users, while non‑compliance with governance and documentation rules can carry serious financial exposure (the new regime increases liability and includes fines measured in percentages of global turnover), so hotels should pair pilots with legal and data‑protection checks before scaling.

SLAIS (the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society), founded in 1992, is the country's main bridge between academic AI research and real‑world deployment: it promotes theoretical and applied research and the transfer of AI technology to industry and commerce, gathers well over a hundred researchers and practitioners, and is a member society of EurAI - see the SLAIS overview for details (SLAIS overview (activities, history, members)).

The local research ecosystem is anchored by the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), which houses multiple AI departments and some 150+ AI researchers, alongside strong university groups at the University of Ljubljana (FRI), Maribor and Nova Gorica and centres like the National Institute of Chemistry; together these actors run conferences (BIOMA and other national events), maintain specialised resources such as an AI library and VideoLectures, and feed into Slovenia's National Programme for AI by helping move ideas from lab to market (AI Watch: Slovenia AI strategy report).

For hospitality teams this dense research network translates into accessible partners for pilots, local talent for analytics or language tech, and practical pathways - via SLAIS‑linked labs and events - to test AI solutions that respect Slovenia's ethical and regulatory roadmap.

A practical roadmap for hotels and operators in Slovenia starts with a clear, staged approach: digitize what matters, pilot the right tools, then scale through partnerships and national infrastructure.

Begin by mapping guest journeys and automating high‑value touchpoints identified in the STB's Digital Transformation Strategy - online bookings, FAQ/chat workflows, and real‑time trail or facility reporting - so data flows are consistent and measurable (see the STB's IT‑tour showcase of 18 practical digital stories and hands‑on demos IT‑tour digital transformation showcase for Slovenian tourism).

Next, run small pilots with concrete KPIs: try guest chatbots and GPT tools for routine queries, Midjourney-style image generation for faster marketing assets, or a 3D avatar demo (the IT‑tour lobby sessions even featured a Herman Potočnik avatar) to test conversion and guest delight.

Use local pilots - Hopguides, maPZS trail reporting or Jezeršek's catering examples - to validate ROI before committing budget. Finally, connect pilots to national programs and infrastructure so scaling is supported: Slovenia's NpUI roadmap and national AI observatory, backed by public funding and HPC resources, provide channels for research partnerships, data sharing and ethical governance that make responsible scaling possible (Slovenia AI strategy and NpUI national AI roadmap report).

The pragmatic balance - people first, tech second - keeps hospitality human while unlocking efficiency and new guest experiences.

“Technological solutions should never replace the services we offer today, but they can complement them well.” - Dr. Emilija Stojmenova Duh, Minister for Digital Transformation

Slovenian hospitality teams must treat AI like a powerful tool that brings clear risks and equally clear remedies: research shows attitudes vary by age and ownership - younger managers are more optimistic while many older or family‑run businesses (61% of the sample) remain cautious - so upskilling should be targeted rather than one‑size‑fits‑all (SME managers' attitudes toward AI - Academica Turistica study).

Ethical governance and bias mitigation are front‑row topics after forums such as UNESCO's AI ethics meeting in Kranj, which emphasised balancing innovation with safeguards; projects like GLACIATION model explainability, privacy‑preserving data ops and accountability that hotels can emulate (UNESCO AI ethics forum summary - GLACIATION project).

Practical steps include ethics‑by‑design, regular algorithm audits, human‑in‑the‑loop processes, and staff education that pairs technical training with ethical scenarios - strategies recommended in bias‑mitigation guidance to keep customer trust intact and avoid regulatory scrutiny (Ethical AI and bias-mitigation guidance - The Compliance Digest).

A vivid reminder: without focused training, a small, family‑run guesthouse risks swapping a trusted concierge's local anecdotes for a bland automated reply - so invest in people first, oversight second, and technology only where it preserves guest experience.

“go fast but don't hurry” - Mr. Seth Center

Conclusion - start small, stay practical, and build momentum: map one high‑value guest journey (booking, pre‑arrival or check‑in), digitise the data that powers it, then pilot a narrow AI use case with clear KPIs - guest personalisation, predictive occupancy or a virtual assistant to handle routine queries - so teams can measure impact before scaling; practical guides such as Alliants AI in Hospitality adoption playbook show how to prioritise guest personalisation, predictive analytics and staff training as the fastest wins, while destination‑level examples like Alma - Slovenian AI travel guide for multilingual, GDPR-aware guest support.

Pair pilots with staff upskilling (short, role‑focused training and prompts work), vendor due diligence and basic data governance, and consider the 15‑week applied Nucamp AI Essentials for Work (15-week) - register to make prompt writing and everyday AI use practical for non‑technical teams.

The simplest winning move: automate one routine task so front‑desk time shifts from directions to storytelling about a local sunrise spot - small tech, big human payoff.

“AI is going to fundamentally change how we operate.” - Zach Demuth