BiH is the Heartbeat of the Balkans in which the Tourists feel Life
Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a unique geographical area where the oriental East and the medieval West meet in the Southeast of Europe, with access to the sea, is abundant with mountain and lowland regions, clean rivers, lakes…
Tourists are those who claim that BiH is the heart of the Balkans where the true heartbeat of the Balkans is felt. In the past twenty years, tourists have been coming to BiH to visit ancient buildings, BiH cultural heritage, enjoy nature and unique sceneries.
The most interesting part of BiH to the tourists are the residents of BiH, their tradition and absurd as a part of life, said the President of the Association of Tourist Guides of the Sarajevo Canton Zijad Jusufović. He has been guiding groups of tourists for 28 years now.
Jusufović said that the citizens quietly pass by the tourists who, on the other hand, carefully observe them and admire them in secrecy. Questions that the tourists ask their guides are of all sorts and mostly about the way of living, the political system, and the incomprehensible differences that are very “common” in BiH.
“Tourists love us, we are interesting people and specific because they expect men with beards and women with hijabs here, since they heard that the majority of population here are Muslims. They like to meet us, they want to talk to us, we are a mystery for them because we are Muslims who speak a Slavic language, we are Muslims who look like Western people. Here, Serbs and Croats are in more serious conflict that Muslims and Serbs or Muslims and Croats and they do not understand that. They want to find out more about the Balkans, the heart of the Balkans – BiH. For them, BiH is unbelievable, everything here is unbelievable: from five religious objects to the First World War, to the resistance, to the meeting of the East and West, to the City Hall where two million books were burnt without a reason – all of that is interesting to the tourists,” Jusufović said.
According to Jusufović, tourists from Turkey are the most frequent visitors of Sarajevo.
“Turkish people are without a doubt the most frequent visitors; they are already feeling like at home here. After them, the former Yugoslavia is always following. Serbians are coming increasingly often and so do the Montenegrins, Croatians are here all the time because they have great connections with Međugorje and Mostar, they make trips every day. There are different lobbies, there is a lot of money in tourism. BiH will certainly become one top destination,” Jusufović said.
One of the most visited locations in Sarajevo is the site where Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. That event served as a motive for the outbreak of the First World War.
Jusufović said that the authorities in BiH do not know the right methods that tourism offers in order to attract a larger number of people.
“Tourism is the most sensitive branch and we must be very careful in the way we behave and the statements we give. We must not confuse the world, if we confuse them they will go somewhere else, and offers are amazing. Everyone is trying to give something new, to educate their guides. We still need to learn a lot about tourism,” Jusufović said.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba/photo: faktor.ba)
