prijava
SARAJEVO, April 26 (FENA) - Tourism sector in BiH and the region is recording positive results in all major growth indicators, but there is still room for improvement and enhancement of its potential, it was highlighted today during the panel at the Sarajevo Business Forum (SBF) dedicated to tourism.
Snježana Derviškadić, head of the project for regional development and promotion of tourism under the auspices of the RCC, which is funded by the EU, says that the region has become particularly recognizable in the market for adventure tourism, where we do not primarily mean 'adrenaline' tourism, but various outdoor activities.
“The region has already been recognized for this offer and in particular the concept of Via Dinarica distinguishes itself. This type of tourism is combined with a cultural heritage based on intangible heritage, tradition, music, culture, food, etc.,” said Derviškadić.
Although each country is present with its own offer, the entire region is viewed as a kind of single tourist destination. In doing so, as our greatest advantage, a rich, natural and cultural heritage can be distinguished, but Derviškadić added there is still much work to be done to get better, to present and promote in a better way.
“Donor support is significant, and the emphasis is on developing regional tourism routes based on cultural heritage and adventurous programs and promotion of these programs in the international market,” said Derviškadić.
Samir Cerić is an entrepreneur who has lived in London for the past 26 years and this is his first time at the SBF. He said that there are three industries he is interested in here.
“The first is to build a ski resort, but not a standard one, but to hire a very important architectural firm like Zaha Hadidv Architects, which is famous for creating architectural wonders,” Cerić said.
He believes that Sarajevo should not look up to Belgrade or Zagreb, but to much larger cities.
“I believe think we should look up to Hong Kong, London, Seoul, or cities where innovation and technology are represented, and not just investments,” said Cerić.
The manager of Relax Tours and Pino Nature Hotel Aida Terzić said that one tourist organization cannot do much on its own.
“For the past 10 years, as the first private travel agency in BiH, we visited all the most important tourism fairs in the world, from Berlin and London, to Dubai.
However, we could not achieve much alone. In the last three years, we have been presenting various tourism promotions together with other colleagues, as well as with the Tourist Board of the Sarajevo Canton which has made a huge progress over the last and this year,” Terzić said, adding that Relax Tours won numerous awards for the most visited booths at international fairs.
The World Tourism Organization has predicted few years ago that BiH will be ranked second or third in the growth of tourist arrivals, and this prediction turned out to be correct, said Terzić.
(FENA) S. R.
