The occupancy of spas and accommodation in the mountain centers of Serbia will not last long if they do not adhere to the minimum of hygienic measures, according to the association “Hores”.
Hoteliers and restaurant owners in Serbia are worried again. As soon as the guests began to arrive and the occupancy of the accommodation increased, new warnings and harsher measures arrived due to the re-spread of the virus in Serbia. This time, everything is up to the management and employees in this sector, who obviously did not understand that the virus, without all the precautions, will not just disappear.
As they say in the business association “Hores”, these days they are again appealing to their members to take all measures and ensure the safe stay of guests so that they do not lose their domestic guests, as well as all received reservations.
– We also appeal to the guests to ask the management to do that where the measures are not implemented, because we all have to understand that the responsibility is now exclusively on us. We must not allow ourselves to end up in a situation where everything we have done so far fails due to non-compliance with the measures – says Georgi Genov, the director of this association.
He adds that, in cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Serbia, they launched the “Clean and Safe” project.
From June 28, the awarding of this seal will begin, which will single out the facilities that adhere to the minimum hygienic and health safety measures prescribed by the World Health Organization and the institutions of Serbia.
This certificate will send a message to the guests whether a facility they want to stay in represents a “safe zone”. However, not all protocols developed by this association are adhered to. And now we have facilities where there are not even disinfectants, and that is what, says Genov, can ruin everyone’s business.
According to the latest data from this association, domestic spas are currently the most filled in Serbia. 88.5 percent of accommodation was filled in hotels in Prolom, Lukovska, Sokobanja and Banja Vrujci on Saturday, 67.3 percent in Vrnjacka Banja, and 47 percent in Zlatibor for the weekend.
– Occupancy of hotels in Belgrade was 12.04 percent on Saturday, and in Serbia outside the capital 22.3 percent – they say in Hores and add that in Serbia out of 386 122 hotels were opened, and in Belgrade out of 115 hotels, 46 opened their door.
– Based on the current situation and confirmed reservations, for the period from June 20 to September 1, a little more than 30 percent of accommodation capacities have been reserved – says Genov.
He explains that the spas are mostly domestic guests, mostly from Vojvodina, as well as from Belgrade and other parts of Serbia. The fact that spas and mountain centers are filled is, he believes, the result of vouchers that the state distributed for subsidized vacations in our country.
When asked if there are foreign guests, Genov says that there are, mostly from the region, but that it is far from the number we are used to in previous years.
– We noticed that it is more and more a last minute reservation, that domestic guests pay only for a few days. Caution is also present with payments, because due to the epidemic, there are many who had to be satisfied with changing dates or moving reservations – says our interlocutor.
– The owners of restaurants and private accommodation believe that after the increase in the number of infected people in Serbia, it is clear that it was necessary to wait a bit with the opening of restaurants and cafes, especially those that do not have gardens and are closed, Kamatica reports.
