Tourism in Serbia in 2019 saw an increase of about eight percent, with foreign currency inflows from tourism amounting to 1.4 billion euros, stated the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajić.
“3.6 million tourists visited Serbia in 2019 and half of them were foreigners”, Ljajic said at the 35th Tourism Flower Awards, presented by the Tourist Organization of Serbia (TOS). According to him, “the growth of seven to eight percent is twice as high as the average globally or in EU countries. If we keep this growth for an extended period, then we can say that our tourism is on solid foundations”, Ljajic said.
He said that “10 million overnight stays were realized this year and Serbia was most visited by tourists from China, which in 2019 will exceed 150,000.”
Ljajic also said that this year the process of privatization and solving of spa problems began.
“We are passing a Law on the Privatization of Spa, which will solve the legal problems of their final status. The final result is the systemic solutions in the Law on Tourism and the Law on Hospitality. After a long time, we will separate these two laws”, Ljajic explained.
He also said that efforts are being made to apply the Vrnjacka Banja model to other tourist destinations, in which the state has invested 175 million dinars in recent years.
“These small investments have caused enormous growth in private investment in Vrnjacka Banja, amounting to more than 100 million euros in the construction of hotels and other tourist facilities”, Ljajic said.
TOS Director Marija Labovic said the awards ceremony has a special significance this time, as TOS celebrates its 25th anniversary.
She stated that in 2019, 78 candidates applied for the Tourism Flower Award.
“This year we made a newspaper, which is the voice of the audience, which was the sixth member of the jury, with 12.000 people voting online”, Labovic said.
The Tourist Flower Award is presented in five categories for significant achievements in improving the quality of tourism services and for contributing to the development and promotion of tourism. In the category Tourism Organization, the award was given to Vrnjacka Banja, while the International Knights’ Festival “Despot Stefan Lazarevic – JUST OUT Manasija” was awarded for the Tourism manifestation of the year.
The best in the Receptive Travel Agency category was the Balkan Travel Center, while the award for the Catering facility for accommodation – hotel/other award went to Grand Hotel Tornik on Zlatibor, or Nataly Spa from Sokobanja. The award was also given to the Viminacium Archeological Park in the category Organization or Individual for contributing to the promotion of tourism, writes Danas.
