Room for improvement in BiH tourist offer still remains, panel discussion in Mostar concludes

‘’A country’s natural beauty along with a word-of-mouth publicity remains the main reason for Europeans when choosing their vacation destination according to the latest TOMAS (Touristic Onli...

‘’A country’s natural beauty along with a word-of-mouth publicity remains the main reason for Europeans when choosing their vacation destination according to the latest TOMAS (Touristic Online Management System) research and, therefore, with a well-developed offer BiH can attract more tourists then it has been the case so far’’ said Sanda Čorak, Director of the Croatian Institute for Tourism during the panel discussion ‘’Tourism development perspective’’ organised by the EU Info Centre in cooperation with the Faculty of Science and Education of the University of Mostar on 15 March 2016 in Mostar.

Čorak has also noted the importance of organising events, especially festivals as an efficient tool for attracting guests, not only during tourist season but throughout the year as Croatia has been doing in particular since joining the EU.

Krešimir Miličević, representative of the Tourist Board of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton presented the current projects in Herzegovina with a special emphasis on the EU-supported wine route as well as the Interreg Adrion Programme which is a part of the Cohesion Policy of the European Union targeting the Adriatic-Ionian region. He has also recognised a lack of tourism development strategy as the main obstacle in the Board’s operations.

Mirjana Milićević, Head of the Tourism Department at the School of Science and Education of the University of Mostar has presented an overview of the tourism education and labour market.

“A lack of practical work remains the biggest issue for the School as our students can only obtain practical experience as support staff in hotels”, Milićević said.

The panel discussion focused in particular on the tourist offer in the Herzegovina region whereas the audience recognised the connection of Mostar International Airport with the major European cities via regular flights as the most important step for the region’s development.

Tourist workers, students, representatives of civil society and representative of public institutions from the Mostar region attended the discussion.