The Belgrade International Tourism Fair, presenting around 350 exhibitors from 33 countries, including exhibitors from the Republic of Srpska, was officially opened yesterday at the Belgrade Fair.

The fair was opened by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who pointed out that tourism had become one of the leading economic sectors and that in 2022, for the first time, Serbia had generated 2.5 billion euros in revenue from tourism, or three and a half times more than ten years ago. ‘This fair is a big event for us, and probably the biggest in this part of the world. We will host over 30 countries and over 350 exhibitors. Over 100 local self-governments will present our cities, villages and towns, and more than 40 tour operators will present their offer’, said Vučić at the opening of the event.

The President of Serbia said that it was a special honor for Serbia to have China as a partner country of the tourism fair this year, and stated that more than 20 Chinese companies were present at the fair. He invited Chinese citizens to Serbia, stressing that he could guarantee them that in no other country in Europe would they be welcomed as warmly as in Serbia.

‘From 2012 to 2019, the number of Chinese tourists increased 30 times. We believe that it can be 300 and 3,000 times’, said Vučić and expressed his expectation for a Shanghai flight to be established.

China’s Ambassador to Serbia, Bo Chen, said at the opening that there was a great prospect of tourism cooperation between China and Serbia, and that she was particularly happy that China was a partner country of this year’s event.

‘China and Serbia have unique advantages in achieving tourism cooperation. One is the abolition of visas, and the other is the establishment of direct flights’, said Chen.

The official opening was also attended by the Assistant Minister of Trade and Tourism of the Republic of Srpska, Predrag Tešić, Director of the Tourism Organization of the Republic of Srpska, Miodrag Lončarević, ministers in Serbian Government, and other representatives of the participating countries.

The tourism offer of the Republic of Srpska will be presented at a joint stand in Hall 4 organized by the Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia and Tourism Organization of the Republic of Srpska, with the support of the Ministry of Trade and Tourism of the Republic of Srpska. The tourism organizations of Trebinje and Istočno Sarajevo (Jahorina) will be presented separately (in Hall 1).

The International Tourism Fair and the International Fair of Hotel and Catering Equipment Horeca-Oprema are held under the slogan ‘Vacation is not hard’.

The fair will be open to visitors from today, 23 February, to Saturday, 25 February, from 10:00 to 19:00, and on Sunday, 26 February, from 10:00 to 18:00 p.m.

Source: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia

Photo: Belgrade Fair