The aim of the master thesis is to identify, present and analyse the state of tourism in the Podravje statistical region before, during and after the COVID-19 epidemic, and to assess the impact and success of tourism vouchers on tourism in the selected region and on selected tourism providers. Using relevant literature, statistical data on tourism in the region, data on tourism vouchers, and the results of interviews with tourism providers, we found that the epidemic had a significant impact on tourism and tourism providers in the region, especially on the number of tourist arrivals and the ratio of domestic to foreign tourists. In the Podravje region, EUR 12,190,407 of tourist vouchers were redeemed. The number of domestic tourist arrivals and the share of domestic tourists in the region both increased during the period of validity of the vouchers, eliminating the shortfall of tourists during the closures. The movement in the number of domestic tourist arrivals by month in the region and the movement in the value of redeemed tourist vouchers by day are broadly in line with each other. The opinions of tourism operators are that the tourist vouchers have had a significant impact on them and have even helped some of them to survive in the tourism sector. We assessed that the tourist vouchers were a successful measure by the Slovenian government to revitalise tourism in the Podravje statistical region.
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