Small and micro enterprises, family businesses, agricultural enterprises and companies from 12 cities and municipalities in eastern and southeastern Serbia have met the project criteria and received EU grants from the project “EU for you – for cultural heritage and tourism”, from which one million were allocated euros for 120 projects aimed at eliminating the consequences of the pandemic in the tourism sector.
Among the future beneficiaries of the grant (up to 10 thousand euros per project), most are those who provide private accommodation, and this project also supports camps, restaurants and providers of various catering services, boarding houses, hotels and hostels, travel agencies, wineries and beekeepers.
The goal is to help overcome the consequences of the pandemic and improve the level of tourist offer in order to become as attractive as possible and attract more visitors.
For more than a decade, Zoran and Emina Milenovic in Rajac near Negotino, in two ethno houses, will make tourists from abroad and thanks to the received non-refundable help make the existing accommodation more comfortable and pleasant for guests by equipping rooms and buying household appliances.
– This money will mean a lot to us in the business we are doing on my grandfather, which we revived and improved and became recognizable. The recipe for rural tourism is simple – you have to give yourself and have a scale in your head, you have to be correct, hygiene comes first, as well as hospitality. The guests know how to appreciate that – says Zoran, adding that he is bothered by favoring western Serbia when it comes to rural tourism, believing that the whole of Serbia should develop equally. The EU seems to have noticed this discrimination and wanted to strike a balance with this project.
In the neighborhood of Milenovic, in the famous Rajacki pubs, Zeljko Peric, as the sixth generation, continues the tradition of Pimnica Peric, founded in 1887. In addition to renovating the accommodation, Peric will direct the project funds to equip the tasting room. He already offers his guests, along with wines, cheeses and meat products that he procures from local producers who have stood out with the quality of their products.
– The goal is to make guests feel welcome in the host’s house and to see that it’s not just about money. This approach contributed to the guests returning and recommending Pivnica Peric to their relatives and friends. Since the promotion is my weakest point, part of the funds will be directed to its improvement in order to attract guests – explains Peric.
Aleksandar Popovic, together with his family, is realizing the idea of giving local producers of wine, cheese and vegetables the opportunity to place their products to tourists from the country and abroad in the complex that is springing up in the Bay of Porec near Donji Milanovac.
In addition to accommodation units, on the banks of the Danube, there will be a tasting room, a kitchen according to the most modern standards, a dining room in the buildings of local folk architecture more than a hundred years old, which will prolong life in this way.
– We will connect the authentic exterior and interior that will be tailored to man today, with the standards to which we are accustomed. The funds we received will be used to equip the interior of the accommodation facilities. Our idea is to connect local producers and present them to guests who come to us. It is not an idea for us to make everything ourselves, to keep everything for ourselves, but to present local producers who meet the quality criteria in our tasting room – explains Aleksandar Popovic.
Assessing that the non-refundable funds of the project “EU for you – for cultural heritage and tourism” brought optimism to private publishers, the President of the Municipality of Kladovo Sasa Nikolic says that those who failed this time are already preparing for the next grant competitions announced by GIZ.
– The exceptional value of this project is that it is implemented according to the needs of the users of the local private sector, by providing the necessary support to overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic. The non-refundable funds are intended for the improvement of tourist services, but also for the promotion of a safe and attractive destination, which is necessary for Kladovo for the next tourist seasons – Nikolic points out.
The new improved tourist offer will be presented in an adequate way, on the modern and functional site “Everything about Djerdap”, which will receive project funds from TA Djerdap travel, the only tourist agency in Djerdap.
– Everything that can and should be seen and experienced in Djerdap will be presented on this site in four languages: Serbian, English, German and Romanian. We believe that this will provide new business opportunities for local entrepreneurs and improve their market competitiveness. It will be easy to use tools for non-cash payment – said Ivan Morarevic from Djerdap Travel, who, thanks to these grants, will start next year with a designed offer focused on the needs of tourists, primarily individuals and in accordance with the current situation, Danas reports.
