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After tourists from Europe and the Arab countries, the magic of Una River was discovered by the tourists from far Asia, causing great joy for tourist workers in Krajina.
The number of visits to the National Park Una increased by 20 percent this year, in comparison with the previous year, stated the Director of the National Park Una Amarildo Mulić. Management of the park is making records of the number of visits, based on the number of tickets sold. This method, although it does not provide completely accurate data on the number of visitors to the Una-Sana Canton every year, is the only indicator of true movement for now. In that way, 50.000 tourists were registered in the National Park Una last year.
“The National Park Una is being increasingly recognized as a tourist destination. We are growing significantly year after year, according to all indicators. Tourists have difficulties finding accommodation in Bihać during four summer months. I would say that these are all indirect benefits for catering facilities and hospitality capacities. Just like we help them, they can help us in provision of tourist services and attractions, in order to extend the tourist season in the Una-Sana Canton,” Mulić said.
The National Park Una relies on traditional market, just like the Adriatic Coast does, but with some local peculiarities. Namely, citizens of BiH who live and work abroad plan a visit to the National Park Una on their way to the seaside.
“The park is mostly visited by BiH citizens, then by tourists from the region, the former Yugoslav republics. We also have many visitors from EU countries, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, as well as tourists from other countries whose citizens traditionally visit the Adriatic Sea. Also, our country records an increased number of tourists from Arab countries, who also find National Park Una one of the favorite destinations in BiH. We also notice that tourists from Asian countries started coming here and that makes us very happy, since they are the most numerous visitors to the Pliva Lakes, the nearest national park in the neighborhood,” said Mulić.
This was all achieved in less than five years. National Park Una, was established in 2011 as a public enterprise. Amarildo Mulić competed for the directoral position. He remembers how on the day of establishment he took over five registers for documentation and one printer, and everything started from there.
“I had a vision how that was supposed to look. That is my profession, but standards of management of protected zones are high. Besides that, economic management was also an important segment for us in terms of development of this area, and that is already multitasking. Therefore, we approached the creation of a system, with a lot of renunciations and many improvisations. FBiH provides significant help, as the founder of the park and financier, but a lot of funds must be provided for significant development. Through different projects we have built initial tourist infrastructure, signalization, roads, marking of alpine and cycling tours, we built facilities in the park and access roads to attractions. Today, we are a stable enterprise with firm foundations and clear contours of development in the future,” Mulić said.
One of the most attractive projects from developmental plans that the management of the park expects to implement in the coming period is the procurement of an electrical riverboat.
Major projects certainly exist. Although they seem unattainable at the moment, one must take into consideration the fact that everything started five years ago with a bunch of papers and one printer, and now National Park Una is the fastest growing national park in the region.
(Source: oslobodjenje.ba)
