Assistant Minister for Tourism Renata Pindžo said at a press conference, organized on the occasion of the forthcoming Tourism Fair in Belgrade, that tourism is growing worldwide, and that last year there were 1,138 billion tourists on an international level, that is 51 million tourists more than in the previous year.
She noted that tourism in our country is growing from year to year, which is why the Tourism Fair is being held, attracting more and more visitors each year. The fair is of great importance for positioning our country at regional, European and international markets.
The Tourism Fair is an opportunity to present our capital city as a business, economic and tourist center of the region, a city rich in history and spirit, said the mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali.
Two years ago Belgrade and Serbia did not have their own national airline, and now Air Serbia has become a dominant company in the region, said Mali, adding that the intention is to start concession for the Belgrade airport this year in order to improve the offer.
Mali thanked this year’s partner of the Tourism Fair, the United Arab Emirates, expressing his belief that the two countries’ cooperation in the field of tourism will promote the cultural ties between the two nations.
Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Serbia Juma Rashid Saif Zayed Aldaheri said that his country did a lot to attract tourists, and that today tourism in the UAE makes for eight percent of the GDP, and that last year more than 14 million tourists visited the UAE.
Serbia also has the potential to develop tourism in a variety of forms, said Aldaheri and pointed to the fact that in recent years there was a large increase in the number of tourists from the UAE visiting Serbia which serves to prove that our country is all the more interesting for tourists from the UAE.
Director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia Gordana Plamenac stated that this year serious preparations were made for the Tourism Fair, but also for the upcoming marketing campaign for the promotion of the tourist offer of Serbia, which will be conducted this year.
According to her, the focus of this year’s tourism campaign called “My Serbia” will be on our people living abroad.
Plamenac said that the double-digit growth indicates that tourism is a promising and very important economic sector in our country.
The Tourism Fair will be held from 19 to 22 February at the Belgrade Fair. It is expected to gather more than 1,100 exhibitors from 50 countries from around the world. This year’s partner country is the UAE.
