(ANSA) - ROME - Italy and Slovenia are closer. From December 4, two new air connections to Portoroz will be available. The flights will depart from the airports of Rome and Salerno twice a week and will be operated by Air Vallée. This announcement was made yesterday in Rome by Slovenia's authorities in the tourism sector, that arrived in the Italian capital city in order to present the potential of the country in the context of the ''Rome to Expo 2015'' initiative in the Vittoriano.

''Italy remains our most important foreign market'', stressed Gorazd Skrt, director of the Slovenian Tourist Board in Milan.

'' In the first nine months of 2014, Italy was in the first place in the rankings, reaching a market share of 17% in terms of arrivals and of 14% in terms of overnight stays''. Even in August, despite the bad weather, ''we recorded a 6% increase in arrivals over the previous year and a 2% increase in overnight stays''. By the end of 2014, he said, ''we expect that the number of Italian visitors reaches the figure of 440.000 people, that is around 1 million in terms of overnight stays''. The opening of these two new air connections is a new attempt to bring into the country ''the public in central and southern Italy, who is less familiar with Slovenia than the inhabitants of the neighbouring North-East'', remarked Jadran Furlanic, director of Tourism Portoro and Piran. This initiative is part of the Action Plan launched by the Slovenian town to promote the growth of the Italian market. (ANSA).