New Deal Europe Weekly Update on Tourism to the Balkan Region, Week 25
News from destinations: Serbia
In the week when the world has witnessed the first vaccinations, we look at how a National Tourist Board can use this opportunity to drive travellers to their destination? In this in depth interview with Marija Labović, Acting Director of the Serbian National Tourism Organisation, we discuss the current challenges facing them, the ways in which they are adapting to the situation, and the products they are highlighting in order to attract future visitors.
NDE: For those readers not familiar with the work of tourist boards, can you explain what is the key purpose of the Serbian Tourism Board, its main aims, and what is your role therе?
ML: The National Tourism Organisation of Serbia (NTOS) is a public institution, and its activities are focused on positioning Serbia’s tourism products on both domestic and foreign markets, and exploring Serbia’s comparative advantages in terms of tourism, including its historical, cultural and natural identity, in addition to its geostrategic position. At NTOS we keep abreast of modern trends in promotional activities and use new communication and promotional tools. This increases the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. My role in the NTOS is as acting director, heading the team of experts towards the fulfilment of our final aim — increasing tourist flows and tourism income in Serbia.
NDE: How much has 2020 changed the way you work and changed your goals for the future?
ML: This has been indeed a very unusual and very difficult year for global tourism and of course also for Serbian tourism. Although the start of the year was extremely positive for Serbia with a record number of visitors in the first two months, the rest of the year has been a struggle in finding the right way to keep Serbian tourism alive. We have been focused very much on domestic tourism and regional markets. The Summer season started very late, but we had positive numbers in domestic tourist flows in August and September. Of course, international tourism suffered the most, so, according to the latest data for October, we have a decrease of 78% in international tourists` nights. Bearing in mind the current situation, our goals for the near future will be changed so that we will have to focus more on the domestic and regional markets, and keep a soft presence on our other markets. Also, we will shift our activities to focus almost exclusively on digital promotion and marketing, at least in 2021, and we will see what the future will bring.
NDE: Now that the vaccine has started to be rolled out, especially here in the UK, do you think you may need to review this strategy for 2021 in order to capture business next Summer and in 2022?
ML: The main characteristic of our planning in this totally unpredictable period is flexibility. The vaccination is of course something we have been looking for for months and it gives all of us much hope that already the second half of 2021 will give us an opportunity to start getting back to business as usual. However, since there are still many unknown circumstances around the efficiency and the comprehensiveness of the vaccination, we remain careful in our expectations. We will definitely keep all our existing and potential partners in the loop, waiting for the moment to continue our cooperation.
NDE: In general, how has Serbia reacted to Covid, and what was done for the tourism sector?
ML: Since travel and tourism were hit heavily by the pandemic, the Government of the Republic of Serbia imposed a variety of measures which were divided into measures aimed at tourism companies and measures aimed at tourists. For companies there was a range of fiscal policy measures, like postponing the tax payments, and some direct support to companies like providing minimum salaries to keep employment, and subsidising hotels using the incentive per room and per bed. For domestic tourists there was the extension of the voucher incentive for staying a minimum 5 nights in paid accommodation.
Since there are still many unknown circumstances around the efficiency and the comprehensiveness of the vaccination, we remain careful in our expectations.
NDE: Traditionally what have been the key markets for Serbia and from which markets would you like to attract more guests?
ML: Traditionally the key markets for Serbia are countries from the region — former Yugoslav countries and Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Russia and Germany. However, China was the number one market in 2019. The markets we aim to attract more in the upcoming mid-term period are Italy, France, the UK, Benelux and Scandinavia, as well as the US. We will focus more on positioning in these important markets from 2022 onwards when we expect the situation with the pandemic will be behind us.
NDE: We know a lot of tourism was centred on the cities, especially Belgrade and Novi Sad, both leisure and MICE, with city breaks, group tours, festivals and conferences driving the volume. Do you think this will change in 2021 and beyond once we are out of the pandemic, and if so in what way?
ML: If we are talking about numbers, we believe that city breaks in Belgrade and Novi Sad will continue to be the main product for international visitors once the pandemic is over. On the other hand, we are convinced that tourists will look for destinations in the nature that are not crowded with people, and Serbia has plenty to offer in this segment. That is why we have decided to focus our 2021 promotion on the so called ‘slow adventure product’. It is a new tourism concept that serves as an antidote to people`s urban life. Slow adventure encourages tourists to enjoy and experience the outdoors at a slower pace and to engage with remote and wild places, with appreciation of the environment, local food, culture, history and traditions. We are absolutely convinced that Serbia is the right destination to offer this product and that we will be able to attract new visitors who are looking for the peace, distance, safety, and natural surroundings.
The markets we aim to attract more in the upcoming mid-term period are Italy, France, the UK, Benelux and Scandinavia, as well as the US.
NDE: So what can the visitor expect to see from the slow adventure product that will be new in Serbia going forward?
ML: In 2021 we will focus on the holidays in the nature in the broader sense, so we will put more promotional efforts into bringing tourists in a sustainable way to our protected natural areas, like national parks and nature parks. We want to give them the opportunity to take part in slow activities like hiking and biking, to get familiar with Serbian culture and history, through visits to remote medieval monasteries and fortresses, art galleries, traditional arts and craft producers, and to enjoy rural accommodation with stunning Serbian food. Of course, we will also support big improvements in major tourism infrastructure, with many new 4 and 5 star hotels in the cities and mountain and spa resorts, and improvements in the ski infrastructure in our main winter resorts Kopaonik and Zlatibor. Since the culture is a very important part of our promotion, we will of course put emphasis on the Novi Sad — European Capital of Culture 2022 promotion and the promotion of superb new exhibitions in our galleries and museums.
NDE: Many operators we’ve interviewed have said that their clients want more ‘off the beaten’ track destinations, and more sustainable tourism offerings. What can Serbia offer them?
ML: The destinations in Western Serbia are already offering this kind of product, especially Tara National Park, including bear watching as a new tour for visitors, Uvac Nature Reserve with Griffon Vulture bird watching, villages like Sirogojno and Zlakusa with traditional arts, crafts and Serbian specialities like cheese pies, kajmak, smoked ham, and of course our famous spirit drink — rakija. Tourists can even take part in making it, as well as drinking it. But we will also work on bringing to the tourists` radar even less known destinations in Eastern and Southern Serbia, like the area around Pirot town and the Stara Planina Mountain that both offer really untouched nature with hidden waterfalls, specific handicrafts like Pirot`s famous rug and hand-made traditional socks, or Pirot`s cheese as a protected autochthonous brand; or the Devil`s Town — a rock formation in Southern Serbia with the associated legends and stories of how it was formed in this beautiful nature reserve, with traditional music and dance, foods and drinks and folk customs that can be found in the surrounding villages and towns. And not to forget — it is not known that Serbia has eight wine regions and many wine routes offering excellent wines, including those varieties that can be only found in Serbia. Due to the relatively small quantities produced, these high quality wines cannot be found abroad, but the visitors can enjoy tasting the wines here with traditional food in the traditional wineries.
NDE: It’s sounds like you have a lot to offer the visitor looking for off the beaten track sustainable activities. I hope New Deal Europe can help you to promote all these offerings. You were one of the participants at our first event. How was your experience and would you recommend it to others?
ML: We had a great pleasure to participate in the first New Deal Europe Workshop, and I have to say that the outcome indeed exceeded our expectations. The event was brilliantly organised, not only technically, which by the way worked perfectly, but also with the participating buyers from all around the world, not only from the UK and Ireland like previously planned. Our meetings were very productive and we expect great follow up on our activities once the pandemic is over. We would definitely recommend the event to others, not only to NTOs, but also to the tourism industry, since we see the event as a great way for creating new contacts and a chance to really promote the product.
NDE: It’s great to get such feedback from you. Why do you think events like this are important for your destination, and where do they stand in the light of your commitment to digital promotion going forward?
ML: We are aware that Serbia is still a relatively unknown destination, and definitely not yet at the top of the mind of the travelers, so we see our participation at this kind of event as one of the important steps in changing this perspective. We are convinced that Serbia has the tourism product that will be in high demand in the future and that this is the right time to bring the product in front of the international tour operators and travel agents. Being aware also that tour operating businesses have suffered a lot, not only because of the pandemic but also due to the changes in the booking habits, we firmly believe that organising slow adventure tours in Serbia would be a great product for tour operators, since tourists would appreciate having all the component parts of the product in one attractive package.
The digital format of the event is in line with our commitment to put stronger accent on digital promotion in the future. Even when it will be possible again to travel and to meet physically, we believe that the new format, or hybrid format, will be much appreciated, since they give opportunities for cost cutting, time and effort saving, and having even more interactions and contacts. We look with optimism into the future and stand ready to do our best to position Serbia on the international market in the best possible way.
Questions by Robert Dee and Tine Murn, founders of New Deal Europe, the only travel market platform dedicated to generating business to the Greater Balkan region of Europe. Apply to New Deal Europe Marketplace and Forum 2021 at www.newdealeurope.com.
