November brought a bit of sun, a bit of rain, a bit of wind to Neum, but that doesn’t worry the people of Neum at all because they are very satisfied with another tourist season.
Neum was a favorite vacation destination for many this summer as well. Tourists came from almost all parts of the world, and as the good weather continued during autumn, the numbers became record numbers. There are no guests these days, so the locals will say that for them this is the most beautiful part of the year, which they will use for vacation, because during the busy season they worked almost every day.
”All in all, when we add it up, we can say that it is much better than last year and, as far as income is concerned, that it has well exceeded the year 2019, with which we were all comparing ourselves until recently,” pointed out Davor Krešić, vice president of the Association of Hoteliers of the Municipality of Neum.
Statistics showed that foreign tourists chose hotel accommodation, while domestic guests chose private accommodation.
”As for hotel accommodation, guests mostly come from Western Europe, the Asian market has been quite active this year, and groups are coming back to us again, but 90 percent of guests in hotel accommodation are guests from Western Europe – adds Krešić.
Ante Džono, one of the apartment renters, states that the guests are mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are a few foreigners, some from Serbia, but most of our guests are from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For years now, Neum has had major problems with the lack of labor because the season now lasts seven or eight months, not just three, as it used to be. This is precisely why the need for workers is increasing.
”We don’t have our swimming pool in Neum, as far as the workforce is concerned. Mostar and Sarajevo are slightly bigger tourist destinations than Neum, and they are struggling with the labor force. We simply do not have domestic labor, so we will be forced to import labor. In this way, we appeal to the state authorities to facilitate work visas, because the season must be completed, and if there is no workforce, the question is who will complete it at all,” Krešić points out.
There are many reasons why many tourists spend their free days, weekend days or annual vacations right here.
”Neum has an excellent quality-price ratio, it has an excellent geographical position, it has excellent hotel and private accommodation, all world-famous destinations are half an hour to an hour away from Neum, which has clean seas, has a good gastronomic offer, so we can say that it is not far behind other destinations on the Adriatic,” says Krešić.
Neum residents will use this period of the year for rest, renovations, visits to fairs, and additional promotion of the hotel. According to the first forecasts, the next season will also be challenging, because tourism workers already have about 70 percent of the announcements that they will be able to enjoy all the beauties of the only BiH city on the sea during the next year, ekapija writes.
