Businessmen and artisans from cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), which redord the largest number of tourists visits, explained that they have more work after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of May this year.
The season of jumping from the Old Bridge in Mostar has already started. This is also confirmed by Ahmed Stupac, a twenty-one-year-old young man who jumps into the Neretva from the Old Bridge, which is part of the tradition. He is a student at the Faculty of Information Technologies in Mostar.
“As for us jumpers, the season is off to a great start. There are a lot of people on the bridge, it’s crowded. There are at least ten jumps a day,” Stupac told.
About 120 kilometers north of Mostar, an increase in tourist arrivals is also being recorded in Sarajevo.
At the time of the biggest crisis, Amina Korda decided to open a private business with sweet cakes, baklava, lokum and other traditional delicacies.
“Everything had an effect, every increase in the price of sugar had an effect, and now it’s already different. It’s already calmed down, more people are coming, there are a lot of tourists, it’s a big change,” says Amina Korda.
Tourists are also increasingly visiting the northwestern part of BiH. Bihac and Una National Park stand out as hit destinations.
In the first five months of this year, according to official data, overnight stays in Bihac increased by about 30 percent compared to last year.
A larger number of tourists is also recorded in the south of BiH, in Trebinje.
They visit, most often, the Museum of Herzegovina. The director of this museum, Ivana Grujic, says that tourists are interested in the legacy of the poet Jovan Ducic. During the year, this institution was visited by more than 20,000 tourists.
According to data published by the Agency for Statistics of BiH, in the first three months of 2023, tourists made more than 276,000 visits to BiH, Slobodna Evropa reports.
