In the first ten months of last year, Serbia had a foreign exchange inflow of 1.27 billion euros. The recovery, one of the hardest hit industries in the pandemic, is going well, but the record 2019 is still unattainable. Especially when it comes to foreign tourists and “reviving” cities. So far, the best are the mountain centers, which were full even in the midst of the pandemic. As they told us, in the mountains, these days, but also during the New Year’s holidays, more people were looking for a place, because the hotel capacities were almost full.
These days, Belgrade can also boast of a foreign exchange inflow. As Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić said, only during the holidays, the Serbian capital earned 100 million euros from tourists. There were many more foreign guests in December, especially since a good part of Europe closed, there is a corona measure in the region, so many foreigners came to Serbia and Belgrade to relax.
Recently, the Minister of Tourism, Tatjana Matić, stated that these are encouraging results, which show that our country is becoming an increasingly attractive destination in the world. It is as if the tourism and hospitality sector is creating the image of its local tourism products in a unique way.
– It is important to us that we see that tourism is recovering, especially when it comes to foreign tourists – Marija Labović, director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia, told “Novosti”. – It is not yet the level from 2019, but it is going in the direction of recovery. However, in relation to the total turnover, 33 percent are foreign tourists, while domestic tourists remained. Most foreign guests last year were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Russia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Germany and Croatia. They have always been in the “top 10” countries.
According to Labović, the authorities would like to open these further markets, but there is nothing of that, at least in the first half of the year, due to the pandemic. This year, the Tourist Organization of Serbia will deal with the rebranding of our country as a destination.
– We continue with our promotional activities, to be present in all important markets, and the focus will continue to be on active vacation, stay in nature, gastronomy and cultural and historical heritage – Labović emphasized. – Foreigners love Belgrade the most. More than 50 percent of all foreign guests visit the Serbian capital.
And while Belgrade is slowly “cooling off” from the hot night, the mountain centers in Serbia – Kopaonik, Zlatibor, Divčibare, Stara planina are “hot”. According to Labović, the occupancy rate for the New Year’s holidays was 90%, and it will be the same during the winter holidays.
– Apart from the mountains, there are also tourists in the spas – Labović told us. – We hope that the epidemiological situation will allow the season to last as long as possible, Novosti reports.
