Bosnia and Herzegovina is an interesting tourist destination for tourists from all over the world. Data on the ground show that the promotion of tourism could be better. There are more and more tourists, but there is a lack of accommodation capacity. How willing are tourists to the offer?
The USA, Germany, Turkey, the countries of the Gulf, are the countries from which most tourists come to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina. A positive image of the natural beauty, but also of the people who live in these areas, goes out into the world. In addition to kebabs, which are an indispensable part of the tourist offer, tourists most often buy fans with the motif of Sarajevo as a souvenir, and to cool off in these hot summer days.
How attractive Bosnia and Herzegovina is as a tourist destination, according to the data of tourist boards, this year could be a record year for the number of arrivals.
HARIS FAZLAGIĆ, Tourist Board KS
“Sarajevo and BiH is still an unexplored destination. It’s that one adrenaline rush and something that attracts people, they’ve heard about our hospitality, gastronomy, cultural and historical values, the intersection of East and West and all that Sarajevo has to offer.”
MLADEN ŠUKALO, Tourism Organization Banja Luka
“The most popular activity is, of course, rafting, but they also have other activities such as hiking, climbing, cycling. Many visitors to our city visit the old town and Kastel fortress first, and kayak rides are also attractive.”
ELVIRA DILBEROVIĆ, Tourist Board of the City of Mostar
“It is obvious that attendance is certainly higher than in the past period. The Old Town, the Old Bridge are overbooked, which is both a pleasure for us as a tourist community, but also a big challenge, I would say a problem of a strategic nature that needs to be solved. The city of Mostar is not only the old core of the city, the City of Mostar is a spa, a town hall, and a gymnasium…”
Tourist groups stay from seven to 12 days in BiH. However, year after year, there is an increasing lack of hotel capacity, according to the travel agency.
SEAD KRUPALIJA, director of the tourist agency
“I will especially point out the problem of Bihać, which as a destination is very interesting, but the problem is that there is not enough capacity in Bihać. There is also a lot of pressure on Mostar. There is a great demand for refuge from mass tourism, refuge in natural habitats where there are not many people.”
This year, the tourist agency recorded a smaller number of organized tourist arrivals, i.e. tourists who stay longer and choose better accommodation. The increasing prices of accommodation, which do not necessarily follow the quality, are also noticeable, BHRT writes.
In the first five months of this year (January-May), Bosnia and Herzegovina was visited by 614,844 tourists (406,450 foreign and 208,394 domestic guests), which is 7.2 percent more compared to the same period in 2023.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina alone in May 2024, tourists made 188,719 visits, which is 34.7 percent more compared to April 2024 and 12.5 percent more compared to May 2023.
Most foreign tourists in the first five months came from Croatia (76,086), Serbia (65,181), Turkey (47,541), Slovenia (29,186) and China (20,231).
According to the data of the BiH Statistics Agency, tourists spent 1,289,248 overnight stays in the period January – May 2024, which is 5.7 percent more than the same period in 2023 (1,219,362 overnight stays).
The number of overnight stays by domestic tourists increased by 4.6 percent, while the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists increased by 6.3 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
In the structure of overnight stays by foreign tourists, the most overnight stays were made by tourists from Croatia (21.3 percent), Serbia (16.5 percent), Turkey (8.4 percent), Slovenia (7.7 percent), and Germany (4.1 percent), Montenegro (3.4 percent), China and the USA each (3.1 percent).
In terms of length of stay of foreign tourists in our country, the first place is occupied by tourists from Iran with 3.9 nights, Egypt and New Zealand with 3.5 nights each, Kuwait with 3.4 nights, Ireland with 3.3 nights and South African countries and Qatar with 3.2 nights each, Fena reports.
