The director of the Tourist Board of Mostar, Elvira Dilberović, assessed the past summer tourist season as one of the most successful so far. The season, which started already in April with the arrival of 45 leading tour operators from Serbia as part of the FAM Trip program, continued strong growth until October.
“After that, the first flight from Belgrade to Mostar followed, so the season started very successfully. This positive trend continued until October. We can describe the whole season as extremely good – all registered accommodation capacities were filled, and still are. Although tourists are not noticed in large numbers on the streets like during the summer months, that does not mean that they are not there,” Dilberović told Fena news agency.
One of the key indicators of a successful season, she added, is the data collected through vignettes that enable the monitoring of group arrivals of tourists. The camera system set up in cooperation with UNESCO and the City of Mostar ensured that all tourists properly purchased a vignette upon arrival.
“There it is clearly shown how much the groups of tourists have increased. As for individual arrivals, although I cannot give precise numbers because many private renters are not included in the official monitoring systems, I can confidently say that over a million tourists visited Mostar,” she stated.
Dilberović explains that Mostar is still the most attractive to visitors from Europe, especially from Germany, Austria and countries in the region, such as Croatia and Serbia. However, an increase in arrivals was also recorded from the countries of the Middle and Far East, and from Turkey.
Despite the positive trends, the Tourist Board of Mostar recognizes the need for more intensive promotion.
“Insufficient information among tourists about everything that Mostar and Herzegovina has to offer is a challenge that we must solve through better marketing,” said Dilberović.
Plans for the future include continuous promotion of Mostar and Herzegovina throughout the year, not just before the tourist season. Dilberović believes that synergy between tourist communities, along with stronger visibility, is the key to maintaining growth and positioning Mostar as one of the leading tourist destinations in the Balkans.
Potential is growing, but challenges remain
In recent years, Mostar has been profiled as one of the most dynamic tourist destinations in the region, and the past season confirms this. The city hosted a series of events such as Mostar Summer Fest, Street Art Festival, Moba Street Food and Mostar Summer, which attracted visitors from all over Europe.
Dilberović pointed out that the city “offered several cultural and entertainment events every evening, so much so that visitors could hardly decide where to go”.
However, with a rich cultural and historical offer, there is a need for additional improvements in order to make Mostar even more attractive and sustainable as a tourist destination. One of the key steps in that direction is the finalization of the Mostar Pass card, a project that has been going on for a long time.
“It is our tourist window to the world, our tourist passport”, emphasizes Dilberović, adding that this card should facilitate access to numerous attractions and facilities that Mostar and its surroundings offer.
Another challenge is the regulation of tourist guides. Currently, many groups of tourists arriving by bus use their own guides, which is not a common practice in world tourist destinations.
“I want order to be restored here and to know exactly what is being said about this city and this country. We held a couple of meetings with local guides, but unfortunately they do not have a serious association. So we should have had some conversations with them first, and then In cooperation with the City of Mostar and the mayor, we made a proposal to arrange that field,” Dilberović points out.
Sustainable tourism as the key to development
Sustainable tourism has become one of the key goals for the Tourist Board of Mostar, emphasizes Dilberović. Destination management and its long-term planning are prerequisites for sustainability, but challenges remain in relation to the regulation of private accommodation.
Many owners rent illegally, which leads to a loss of income from tourist taxes and membership fees, but also to a lack of key information about tourists – who they are, where they come from, how long they stay and what they are interested in. Therefore, the City of Mostar and the Tourist Board are trying to get private renters out of the “black zone” and include them in the system.
“The Law on Fiscalization is clearly defined, we have the interpretation of the Federal Ministries of Finance and Justice, which says that all households with up to 20 beds that do not have meals are not subject to fiscalization. Unfortunately, we do not have an understanding in the county,” she clarified, saying that that part must be regulated in order to have data on the basis of which to make serious analyzes and strategies.
In addition, Dilberović emphasized that it is important to promote all parts of the city that offer different contents and thus extend the stay of tourists. The Tourist Board is working to expand the tourist offer beyond the old city core, so that visitors can discover the rich history and culture of Mostar through different eras.
“It is our responsibility to promote the city, but higher levels of government must also recognize the seriousness of this story,” says Dilberović, adding that only through joint efforts, Mostar can retain tourists and offer them much more than the already known attractions.
Nine months of existence, nine months of progress
In just nine months of its existence, the Tourist Board of Mostar realized a series of projects that significantly enriched the tourist offer of the city. One of the key projects was the summer cinema, which was held in cooperation with the embassies of France and Turkey. Seven outdoor film evenings were organized in Zrinjevac park and on the plateau in front of the hammam in the Old Town.
“We believe that this city should get that urban tourist story, so that our citizens and tourists can live in Mostar even in the late hours when some things are already quiet,” explained the director of the Tourist Board of Mostar.
Special emphasis is placed on the development of new tourist facilities, such as the Slavena Park on Rujište, a natural picnic area equipped with an educational and recreational trail that, with the help of university professor Edita Vučić and academic painter Maja Rubinić, has been enriched with archaeological elements and artistic depictions of mythological creatures. It is expected that this picnic area will become attractive for tourists and local residents.
The Tourist Board also actively participates in the promotion of the Wine Road of Herzegovina, and through cooperation with USAID they are working to improve the tourist offer of Mostar, which has been declared the European City of Dionisio Wine 2024.
Creating a quality workforce is recognized as one of the key factors for the long-term development of tourism in Mostar. In cooperation with the County Ministry of Education and USAID, changes were proposed in the curriculum for chefs, with the aim of providing qualified professionals needed for the tourism sector.
“All institutions in Mostar must be aware that we must create a quality workforce. Without that workforce in tourism, there is no tourism. We must have good qualified cooks and we must have good licensed tourist guides,” Dilberović believes.
Among the numerous projects, the initiative for a database of authentic souvenirs, which would be based on local resources, was highlighted. Despite the low response to the public invitation, it is planned to continue working on the gathering of local craftsmen and artists who will offer autochthonous souvenirs from Herzegovina.
Another project that is being developed is the Open Air Museum in the Green Cave in Blagaj, which is a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A permanent exhibition will be set up there, which will expand the tourist offer of the region.
Mostar towards a green destination
One of the key long-term goals is the transformation of Mostar into a “Green Destination”, which requires strict standards. In cooperation with the Embassy of France and the French Institute, a conference is planned on November 22 on the topic “Transfers of good practice and experiences with Avignon”, one of the leading tourist cities of France.
Through this cooperation, Mostar plans to learn from Avignon and develop strategies that will enable green and sustainable development. As a symbol of this goal, the first olive tree will be planted in Mostar, symbolically launching the initiative of greening the city.
The Tourist Board of Mostar clearly sees the future in sustainable tourism, stressing that it is necessary to develop and protect local resources and to unite all stakeholders in order for Mostar to become recognizable on the tourist map of Europe, the Director of the Tourist Board of Mostar Elvira Dilberović concluded in an interview for Fena.
