Hoteliers and room renters in Medjugorje are very satisfied with this year’s season, and a special indicator of a good season is the number of pilgrims from the USA, Spain and Ireland, who return in large numbers to this place in Herzegovina.
“The season is not even close to the end yet, it lasts from Easter to All Saints’ Day, and pilgrims also come for Advent and New Year. We can all be very satisfied with this season in Medjugorje, the year of the return of pilgrims from all continents to Medjugorje. What surprised local hoteliers a little unpleasantly was the smaller number of Italians than usual, but this is due to the present fear of the coronavirus. There are fewer Italians, but there are a lot more of everyone else,” Davor Ljubić, president of the Assembly of the Association of Hotel Tourism and Room Renters (UTHIS) in Međugorje, said in an interview with Fena.
As he says, apart from the Croats, who are the most numerous, a huge number of pilgrims come from Poland, and they are particularly pleased with the return of the Americans.
“I have already pointed out several times that we are pleased with the great return of the Americans, but also of the Spaniards and the Irish. The return of Americans is most favored by a direct flight between Dubrovnik and New York. Americans are an important segment for every market, because where an American comes, that means that it must be a location. The return of the Americans means that the service in Medjugorje is also excellent, because they maintain the quality of the facilities, which shows that Medjugorje is a destination with a large number of quality facilities. Americans are looking for spiritual renewal, but also for hedonism, to make their soul and body feel good,” emphasizes Ljubić.
According to him, Međugorje is an important starting point for tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Gone are the days when pilgrims came only to Međugorje, today they go to Mostar, Neum, Sarajevo, Kravica, and from that side Međugorje deserves to be among the leading tourist and pilgrimage centers, because pilgrimage is a type of tourism. All those who gravitate to Medjugorje live well. Also, some new opportunities are opening up, especially with the fast road from Stolac to Neum, opportunities to see the natural beauty of Herzegovina,” he believes.
As of this year, Croatia is a Schengen member, and that creates problems for group tourism in Međugorje, because the procedures at the border are different.
“I highlighted this as a problem even before the season started, not much has changed, but we assumed that there would be long waits at the border crossings in the peak season. In addition to the procedures, you must announce the entry of the bus, which border crossing it will enter, payment of VAT at the border crossing itself. In addition, there were a lot of difficulties, the introduction of vignettes in Mostar, an increase in vignette prices in Međugorje, an increase in parking prices, but we pushed through the season,” said Ljubić.
He believes that in the future Međugorje and Mostar Airport can have even more mutual benefits from each other.
“Mostar airport has potential as far as Medjugorje is concerned, through Medjugorje we have a current connection with two major pilgrimage sites in Italy: San Giovanni Rotondo and Foggia. We have a connection with Foggia airport twice a week from May to October and we hope that this line will continue to prosper next year and that we will be able to connect with Italy with this line as intended. The plan is to have direct, or through Foggia, connection with Catania, with northern Italy (Verona, Bergamo, Milan) next year. I also hope that with Croatia Airlines (CA) we will finish the story of opening a line with Rome, this year we did not succeed because CA did not have enough crews. We are definitely going to implement that project next year, to have a twice-weekly line between Mostar and Rome,” reveals the president of the Assembly of UTHIS Međugorje.
He adds that Mostar Airport also depends on the decisions of low-cost companies.
“Low-cost carriers choose a route that is interesting to them, Mostar is interesting, but Split and Dubrovnik are more interesting to them because they attract a lot more guests. We managed to make some contacts, but we don’t know when the first lines will be implemented. Let’s expect that Mostar Airport will reach the figure of 50,000 passengers next year,” Ljubić thinks.
He also expects that the postseason in Medjugorje will be just as good.
“As for Medjugorje itself, we have never had Advent in the sense that other destinations have, pilgrimage is important to us. Advent is always well attended here, especially on weekends. I believe that next year we will learn with new prices, because this year there was a consolidation of the market. Međugorje today has between 8,000 and 10,000 beds and they are filled very well, during the big holidays they were filled 100 percent, which means that there is a lot of interest in Međugorje,” concluded Ljubić.
Proof that the Americans have returned is a large number of them praying in the area of the Medjugorje church, and one of them is Augustin Ngwa, who comes from Atlanta, Georgia.
“This is my first visit to Medjugorje, I came for several reasons, for a pilgrimage, to celebrate the 20th wedding anniversary of a colleague, so far everything has been a beautiful experience. Medjugorje is a fantasytically, we saw places with miracles, we met beautiful people, it was a rich experience,” said Ngwa.
He and his group are very satisfied with the prices in Medjugorje.
“To be honest, I expected it to be a little more expensive. We took a taxi, it was only five or six dollars. The prices are quite low, compared to other places. Everyone has a good experience regarding Medjugorje, it is something we will remember for the rest of our lives. Everything was fantastic and I plan to return in the near future,” said the pilgrim from the USA.
In addition to Americans, there are also a large number of pilgrims from Spain in September, and among them is Juan Mer Tepraz from Castellón.
“I am in Medjugorje with my mother, we came for spiritual reasons. It’s my first time here, and what I especially like are the people and how calm everything is,” said the Spanish pilgrim.
