USAID Tourism project director Feđa Begović, looking back on the successful tourist season of 2024, and on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27, stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina has strengthened its status as a growing international destination.
World Tourism Day is celebrated every year on September 27 to raise awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. This date is marked on the anniversary of the adoption of the Statute of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on September 27, 1970.
Begović claims that this year everyone witnessed the increased global visibility of BiH, which attracted a greater number of visitors and opened opportunities for private investments.
Investments in tourism, he added, bring a significant return that goes beyond the industry itself, stimulating significant economic growth.
– In 2019, the total revenues from tourism in BiH amounted to 2 billion KM, according to the annual report of the Central Bank of BiH. This not only improved the sector, but also brought several hundreds of millions of direct revenues to the budget through VAT and other taxes – he explained.
To maintain growth, Begović believes, more commitment from the government and strategic investments are needed, especially in infrastructure, development of tourist products and marketing.
– Also, we have to face current challenges, especially in terms of workforce availability, where, in order to maintain high service standards, we must prioritize training and retention of qualified workforce – he emphasized.
Begović concluded that the Government of the United States of America, through USAID Tourism, remains committed to cooperation with partners in order to overcome these challenges and continue the development of sustainable tourism that benefits all communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the context of celebrating the World Tourism Day and the excellent results we are recording when it comes to the branches of industry that represent the main generators of the development of each country, including our sector, transport and the tourism sector, it is important to highlight the role of the largest and busiest airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, JP International Airport Sarajevo.
The Director of the Airport Services Sector, Vedrana Vikić Music, said that the ever-improving air connection of Sarajevo with a large number of new and strategic destinations has enabled the Canton of Sarajevo, as well as the whole of BiH, to record the best results so far when it comes to the number of tourists.
– Sarajevo Airport has been continuously breaking records for the last two years, and we expect that this year will also be a record year in terms of the number of air operations and the number of passengers. According to our data, it is clear that this will be the best year so far in the history of Sarajevo Airport – she said.
Presenting the data for the first eight months, Vikić Music said that 1,251,159 passengers on 11,503 air operations passed through MAS and that 33 airlines operated with 37 direct destinations.
– Sarajevo Airport, together with other relevant entities, will continue to contribute to the development of tourism in BiH, and that by expanding the network of destinations, the quality of services provided and innovation, it will be and remain one of the main drivers of the development of traffic and tourism in BiH – she concluded.
The director of the TZ of the City of Mostar, Elvira Dilberović, said that the tourist season since April has recorded an impressive number of tourists from different countries of Europe and the world.
– Through the vignette, a jump in group visits arriving by bus is evident, so through the vignette we can know where the tourists come from, how long they stay, and in what numbers. The City of Mostar and UNESCO have secured cameras on the approaches to the City, in order to prevent illegal entry into the City, and the money collected in this way is planned to be spent on tourist infrastructure – she pointed out.
He believes that the rich cultural and entertainment content in the City certainly contributed to the season, and that Mostar-European City of Wine is an event that promoted Mostar as a very attractive wine, generally enogastronomic, destination, and that the Wine Road occupies a central role in this type of tourist offer.
– Currently, work is being done on equipping the Wine Museum in Mostar, which would significantly round out the story about the Wine Road and the City of Mostar as a city of wine. USAID played a significant role in those processes – said Dilberović and praised events such as the “Innovation and Resilience” Summit, Summer Fest Mostar, Street Art Festival, Moba Street Food, Jazz Festival, and numerous other events that attracted a large number of tourists and citizens.
Azra Bander Demirović, an expert advisor in the service statistics department of the BiH Statistics Agency, said that in 2024, tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina will see significant growth, which is in line with global trends in the recovery of the sector after the pandemic years.
– In the first eight months of this year, tourists made 2,218,541 overnight stays, which represents an increase of 8.9 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The number of overnight stays by foreign tourists amounted to 1,564,992 overnight stays, which represents an increase of 12.2 percent compared to the same period in 2023 and in the total number of overnight stays with a participation of 70.5 percent – she noted.
Bander Demirović said that the most overnight stays are made by tourists from Croatia, Serbia, Germany, Slovenia, and an increasing number of tourists from China and other Asian countries. Longer stays were recorded, she added, among tourists from Iran, Kuwait, Egypt and Qatar, and emphasized that according to the type of accommodation facility, the largest number of overnight stays was in hotels and similar accommodation with a participation of 94.3 percent.
fedralna.ba/Fena
