Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic said today that the destinations in the country are full and that on Zlatibor and Vrnjacka Banja the capacity is about 95 percent, while in Sokobanja no free bed can be found and that in July a record number of nights was realized – 110,000.
Ljajic told TV Prva that rural tourism in the country has expanded this year, and that many other destinations that were not known to the citizens are now full of guests, adding that a large number of domestic tourists will mean a lot to the tourism industry.
“This will enable people who are engaged in tourism to “keep their heads above water” and will mean preserving the vitality of our tourist economy,” said Ljajic, emphasizing that the damage based on foreign exchange inflow will be around one billion euros.
He pointed out that this damage can hardly be compensated by domestic tourists, but that everything should be done to make it as small as possible.
He also stressed that Serbia is not a country of “sea, sand and sun” and that as such it is not “the first for tourists to rest”, and that Serbian citizens, despite the corona feel safer to stay in the country.
“It is not realistic to expect us to fight Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia and some people decide for one reason or another to spend their holidays there, have real estate in other countries, I do not believe that prices in Serbia are the reason why they go to other destinations,” said Ljajic.
One of the ideas to “save” domestic tourism, the minister reminded, was the distribution of an additional 400,000 vouchers for summer vacations in the country, after 160,000 vouchers were distributed during February.
“The idea of 400,000 vouchers is being realized, not in the way we expected, the corona has influenced the dynamics of using these vouchers, up to 102,000 vouchers have been distributed so far. All these events have influenced the reduction of interest in using vouchers,” Ljajic said.
He says that pensioners used to apply for vouchers, but the situation around the epidemiological situation demotivated them to apply for vouchers, and now employees with incomes lower than 600 euros are applying.
Anyone who wants to use the vouchers can apply until November 20 this year, said Ljajic.
Speaking about the trade sector, Ljajic says that he does not expect a “hot autumn” for the trade sector, nor that the sector will undergo any significant changes.
As he said, in June, there was even a growth in retail sales of 11.7 percent compared to June 2019, and especially food products.
Ljajic says that the growth of pharmaceutical and tobacco products is noticeable, but also the decline in the sale of clothes and furniture.
“There are no indications that there could be a disruption in the supply of trade,” he said, adding that we were much better there during the crisis than many countries, so the supply chains will go their course, RTV reports.
