On 25 January at 17.00 hours, the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention centre closed the doors of the Tourism and Free Time Fair and the Boat Show (22 - 25 January 2009). The first event developed from the international Alpe-Adria fair, which first took place at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in 1962 and forty years later transformed into the Holiday Fair. The same is true for the Boat Show, which was first organized at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre under this name in 2005. This year, the Tourism and Free Time Fair hosted 142 exhibitors from eight countries on 3000 square meters of exhibition space while the Boat Show hosted 24 exhibitors of predominantly small craft (up to 10 meters) from two countries on 2400 square meters of exhibition space.

At this year’s Tourism and Free Time Fair special attention was given to ideas for active and quality free time, ranging from hiking, cycling and golf to surfing. During the two events the fairgrounds also hosted a number of presentations of local tourist organizations, discussions, lectures, etc. On 22 and 23 January the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre hosted the 1st business stock exchange of supply and demand in congress activities in Southeast Europe, Conventa. The stock exchange proved to be a valuable asset to the tourist offer of the Tourism and Free Time Fair. It was organized as a meeting place for event organizers and providers of business and congress services. The events saw 15000 visitors over the course of four days.