Serbia’s National Tourism Organisation estimates revenue to the country from tourism activities in 2017 amounted to about € 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion).
According to the news, the number of foreign tourist arrivals increased by 18% year-on-year in 2017, with the number of tourists from Israel and China rising by 245% and 118% respectively, according to the president of the organization, Marija Labovic. Roughly 45% of all foreign tourists who visited Serbia in 2017 came from Southeast Europe, according to Labovic, who added:
“Our research has shown that out of the total number of foreign tourists, 52% came here for the first time. A total of 80% of the tourists said they would return to Serbia in the future.”
Labović was appointed as Chief Executive Offcer of National Tourism Organisation of Serbia in November 2015, and was instrumental in setting up the successful outreach campaigns such as “Days of Serbia – Sounds of Summer”, along with formulating plans for boosting gastronomic, cultural, adventure and medical tourism. Most experts agree with an earlier assessment by Labović, that tourism offers in the country are very far underutilized. An earlier report by us on Greece’s PM and Serbia’s president ironing out Greece-Serbia cooperation is typical of the efforts being made by officials.
The total number of foreign tourist arrivals rose 17.6% year-on-year to 1,386,097, with the total number of overnights spent by foreign tourists added 16.4% to 2,939,252, according to the most recent data released by the country’s statistical office. Back in November of 2017 the tourism ministry reported a record number of UK visitors to Serbia.
In a report by Travel Weekly, tour operator Cosmos added 25 new tours for 2018 that feature Serbia as part of its Balkans programme, with other tour companies following suit.