During the 20 days since the issuing of the call for awarding tourist vouchers, 1,100 citizens have applied, stated today Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić.

“This tells us we will meet the goal of handing out 46,000 vouchers by the end of this year”, said Ljajić for RTS, adding that by awarding the vouchers, the Government of Serbia absolutely helped the development of tourism, since 14,000 vouchers were handed out last year, leading to 118,000 overnight stays.

Ljajić further added that last year there were 244 facilities on the list, whereas by yesterday 340 hotels and accommodation facilities where the vouchers can be utilized applied for this list.

“I believe the list will reach 500. I think this will be the year when we achieve the set goals”, said Ljajić, reminding that around one million euros were earmarked as assistance to domestic agencies for the organized arrivals of foreign guests, envisaging 10 euros per tourist for up to five overnight stays, and 15 euros per tourist over that”, added Ljajić.

Ljajić said that the state is doing all it can to improve tourism whereby, for example, the “Falkensteiner” chain was promised that the state will finish roadways to Stara Planina, but the brunt of the work lies with the tourist sector, who need to invest much more into human resources, new services, competitiveness.

Speaking of the announced withdrawal of this hotel chain, Ljajić said that one of the owners met with the Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, that it was a good meeting where, in addition to that issue, the perspectives of Stara Planina and other destinations were also discussed.

The chain, he added, expressed their readiness to participate in the public call for leasing the hotel on Stara Planina, as well as their interest in new investments in this area, since they see Stara Planina as a serious destination.

Laljić stated that it is certainly not good news when such a chain decides to withdraw from a country, but that there is now a positive direction for future cooperation.

Responding to the question of when the public call will be issued, Ljajić stated that the formal and legal procedure is currently under way, to be completed in one week, when “Falkensteiner” will also be notified.