Most recently, The Huffington Post named Bosnia and Herzegovina the “9th Greatest Adventure in the World for 2013”, adding that the country boasts “the cleanest water and air in Europe; the greatest untouched forests; and the most wildlife. The best way to experience is the three rivers trip, which purls through the best the Balkans have to offer.”
According to an estimation of the World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the third highest tourism growth rate in the world between 1995 and 2020.
In 2012, Bosnia-Herzegovina had 747,827 tourists an increase of 9% and 1,645,521 overnight stays which is a 9.4% increase from 2012.
58.6% of the tourists came from foreign countries.
In 2006, when ranking the best cities in the world, Lonely Planet placed Sarajevo, the national capital and host of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, as #43, ahead of Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, Bled, Belgrade and Zagreb. Tourism in Sarajevo is chiefly focused on historical, religious, and cultural aspects. In 2010, Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel” nominated it as one of the top ten cities to visit that year. Sarajevo also won travel blog Foxnomad’s “Best City to Visit” competition in 2012, beating more than one hundred other cities around the entire world.
Medjugorje has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Christians in the world and has turned into Europe’s third most important religious place, where each year more than 1 million people visit. It has been estimated that 30 million pilgrims have come to Medjugorje since the reputed apparitions began in 1981.
Bosnia has also become an increasingly popular skiing and Ecotourism destination. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of the last undiscovered natural regions of the southern area of the Alps, with vast tracts of wild and untouched nature attracting adventurers and nature lovers. National Geographic magazine named Bosnia and Herzegovina as the best mountain biking adventure destination for 2012. The central Bosnian Dinaric Alps are favored by hikers and mountaineers, containing both Mediterranean and Alpine climates. Whitewater rafting is somewhat of a national pastime, with three rivers, including the deepest river canyon in Europe, the Tara River Canyon.
