The Sarajevo tourism is breaking all the records and it is growing at a rate that is several times higher than the European average! How did Sarajevo manage to impose itself on the tourist map of Europe and the world, and what drags the masses of tourists to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
For the first time since 50 years ago, when the mass tourism phenomenon appeared in the world, the number of tourist visits to B&H will exceed one million. These visits include tourists who will spend at least one night in B&H, without taking into account one-day tourist visits and tourists in transit.
The isolated data of a million tourists annually does not say much, but when placed into a somehow broader context it becomes the major argument for the economic experts who have been claiming for long time now that tourism became one of the most vital and fastest growing economic branches in B&H. The expansion of tourism is being recorded worldwide, especially in Europe, where the number of tourist visits is growing at an exceptionally high rate of 6 percent annually. However, when it comes to B&H, it is not about powerful tourist growth but of a tourist explosion: the increase in the number of tourist visits to B&H is five times higher than the EU average, with the increase of tourist visits to Sarajevo by as much as eight times above the EU average!
According to the latest data published for July, 49 percent more tourists have stayed in Sarajevo than in the same month last year, and the chances are that the data for August will be even more impressive.
Already three years ago, the Sarajevo tourism reached the level of the golden 1984, when the capital of B&H hosted the Winter Olympics. A total of 355.000 tourists stayed in Sarajevo, which was the sports center of the world that year. Of the total number of tourists then, only 92.000 were foreign tourists, which is approximately three times less foreign tourists than in 2014 and four times less than in 2015.
(Source: bosnjaci.agency/ photo starigrad)
