Well this is a translation of an article published in today’s Blic. www.blic.co.yu
foreigners afraid of large portions
Welcoming people, atmosphere, nightlife, restaurants, bars, river boat(s) Belgrade cafes, girls – they are the things most foreign tourists find attractive about Serbia.
Depending on the country the tourist is from one can work out what they are most interested in. The English (probably they mean British) are keenest on the rivers Sava and Danube, river boats and night life, the French are interested in our architecture and museums, the Germans both the above and the Italians are interested in our fashion (yes, this surprised me too) and they often seek Serbian designer clothes and Serbian girls states Zorica Jovanov, Tourist board of Serbia advisor.
She adds that all tourists are well pleased with Kalemegdan park. They also like the fact that we have many parks and green parts of Belgrade, even if most Serbs haven’t noticed this.
According to her visiting men are very fond of local women but visiting women aren’t so fond of Serbian men. Another problem is accommodation which occasionally turns out to be below the standard advertised in tourist brochures. Also the poor cleanliness of public toilets (try visiting Belgrade railway station toilets, they are a disgrace) and bad quality of roads are problems which need to be solved.
Some tourists complain that portions are too large in our restaurants. Often they are double the size of what you receive in Western eateries – Jovanov laughs.
One of the main criticisms from foreign tourists and tour operators is that in our country an exact calendar of (cultural etc) events doesn’t exist.
Tourists in the West quite often plan their holidays over a year in advance which is why events need to be presented to them with plenty of notice so they can time their arrival accordingly.
Places that tourists visit most often are Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kopaonik, Zlatibor, Vrnjacka Banja and Nis…
OK that’s it for now, I think this is a topic we shall keep returning to of course connected to Viktors Serbian brand bit posted some days ago. Time permitting, I may post the rest of the article in the comments section.
In my opinion there is never enough study done on the habits of tourists. Serbia will of course never be able to live from tourism in the way that our neighbors Croatia and Montenegro do but the tourism industry is a crucial part of Serbia future.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Dont worry, i’m still working out this “no rules” campaing
But, i’m off to Exit today, going to enjoy one of the good touristic things in the next four days (im also a tourist in Novi Sad)
More info about exit here: http://www.exitfest.org
and here.
I can’t agree more about the assessment of the hotels being sub-standard. When I first arrived in Belgrade, the hotel was my first impression and it wasn’t nice (I stayed at the Kasina). I have heard that all hotels are still state-run, is this true? Either way, there is a dire need for one nice (by European standards) hotel downtown if Belgrade wants to make a good first impression on tourists.
No hotels are not all state run.
In fact more and more hotels have been privatised. For example the Moscow has recently been bought by that arms dealer Dragisic and the hotel next to it the Balkan has been bought by the East West Group. EWG has completely renovated the Balkan – now its expensive too.
Thats your 4 star kind of level.
And then of course there are plenty more at that level too which are of a good standard.
But the problem which is increasingly recognised is budget to 3 star category. A new hostel has recently opened up and Im informed that its good by European standards. I also think that you get what you pay for at the Hotel Royal.
PS I wouldnt touch the Kasina as a tourist – just look at the sign outside and the fact that it barely exists in cyberspace.
montenegro doesnt live from a tourism!..hahaha thats actually funny..they are lucky they have a sea coast naturally so poor serbs come there–those are the only tourists..otherwise they are nothing..and hotels there..well, they got better considering that serbia was not allowed to have a tourism in the 90s..but also, BG has the cheap-low income tourists who choose the really horrible places to stay so..