The border areas of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have recently gained 580 kilometers of new hiking trails and 10 rest areas, which was achieved through the project “Strengthening the Pedestrian Corridor in the Cross-Border Area of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – E-CrossPass”, funded by the European Union.
It is expected that this project, as stated at the final conference in Užice, will contribute to an increase in the number of tourists, new projects for improving infrastructure, and strengthening ties between the two countries.
Of these 580 kilometers of hiking trails, marked and arranged according to EU standards in the past two years to be part of the European hiking route E7, 330 km pass through the Zlatibor district (of which 60 km through the Tara National Park). The successful implementation is due to the leaders of the activities from the Tourist Organization of Užice and the Mountaineering Society Konjuh from Tuzla, various associations, and the Ministry of Physical Planning of the Tuzla Canton and the Mountaineering Association of Serbia, with EU funds through the IPA 2 program.
On this occasion, the Minister of the aforementioned cantonal ministry, Anela Ajšić, emphasized that the project showed that there are no obstacles to the realization of good ideas.
– The path to its realization was not easy, and the members of the association who worked on this know that best. I publicly congratulate them for showing that we are ready to realize and apply projects according to EU standards. What is certainly most important is that we expressed partnership, that we have friendly outstretched hands, people and friends wherever we meet, whether in the territory of Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina – said Ajšić.
On behalf of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Konstantinos Soupilas expressed satisfaction with the successfully completed project.
– We were not only donors, but also partners with the desire to enable the project to be implemented smoothly. Support was received by 12 local tourism organizations, 10 mountaineering associations, 250 outdoor tourism providers and 15 protected areas. With such a large number of participants, a great result was achieved, the project is very well designed and sustainable – he said.
Director of the Užice Tourist Board Danijela Đorđević Arsić pointed out that in this project, recently presented as a new attraction at a conference in Montserrat, Spain, and at the tourism fair in Belgrade, they learned how to improve tourist infrastructure according to EU standards, because during a study visit to the Czech Republic they saw how trails are mapped, traced, and marked, and then implemented it. The Head of the Zlatibor District Desimir Popović pointed out the importance of the project for the entire district and its tourist attractiveness.
The president of the Tuzla Mountaineering Society Konjuh, Sabid Zekan, expecting similar projects to continue, said that he had come up with about a dozen new ideas for this, because hiking trails have a lot of potential.
– We have gained a hiking and walking corridor that allows us to move together with hikers from Serbia. It is important that we connect with each other, socialize and continue walking together – said the president of the Konjuh Association.
Source: ba.ekapija.com
