National guests main trump cards of our season: registration begins for additional Tourism vouchers

Registration for the additional 400,000 coupons for the summer vacation in Serbia begins on Wednesday, and students can also use them. Available to those whose income does not exceed 70,000 dinars. Documentation from May 13.

SERBIA officially started the campaign for the start of the summer season in our country on Monday. Under the slogan “Choose your adventure, see Serbia”, the Serbian Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Tourism, in the next period, will begin to promote the natural beauties of our country. Everything will be aimed at national guests and tourists, because this year they are the only trump card that could revive the summer season. However, Serbian citizens are more interested in holiday prices, which have started to grow “vertiginously”, with the justification that demand is higher than usual.

Among the first measures taken are 400,000 new vouchers. As the Minister of Tourism Rasim Ljajić said, pensioners, students and employees whose income does not exceed 70,000 dinars will also be able to apply for them. The presentation of the documentation begins on May 13, and with the 160,000 that have already been distributed so far, the record will be broken. The value of the voucher is 5,000 dinars and the novelty is that it can be used in Belgrade and Novi Sad.

– This is also an invitation to caterers and hoteliers to request acceptance of guests with vouchers – said Minister Ljajić. – So far, there are 1,500 registered facilities, and we expect new ones from Belgrade and Novi Sad to apply. In addition, the coverage of people who can apply has increased, including students and those with incomes less than 70,000 dinars. Students will not be able to use coupons at their place of residence or where they study, mainly to avoid abuse, but also so they can travel throughout Serbia. Additional coupons must extend the season, so it will no longer be limited to two or three months, but will last until the end of the year. This should partially reduce the damage caused by fewer international trips.

As Ljajic said, all the other countries are mainly aimed at domestic tourists. This is the year of domestic tourism, but it is also a good opportunity for Serbia to present itself to our guests in the right light. Incidentally, tourism revenues in our country, during the first five months of this year, are lower by approximately 300 million euros, due to the lower number of foreign guests.

– By the end of the year, the damage could be around a billion euros, more precisely, it could be much less tourism revenue, compared to 2019 – Ljajic noted. – In the world, this damage could amount to about 910 billion euros. It is true that this year, in terms of international travel, it is lost.

In the words of Marija Labović, director of TOS, greater emphasis is placed on the proposals by which one could travel through Serbia, respecting all health measures.

– Through this tourist campaign, we want to draw attention to those destinations that are less visited, not only to the mountains and spas, which have the highest number of visitors – Labović explained. – We must not forget our cities, which are full of cultural and historical heritage, museums and natural beauties.

STATE AID COMING SOON

The PRESIDENT of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Cadez, the representatives of the Board of the Group of Passenger Carriers and the group of the Tourism Association discussed proposals for sectoral support for the industries most affected by the pandemic, with the Ministers of Finance and Tourism Sinisa Mali and Rasim Ljajic.

It was agreed that smaller working groups will be formed in the coming days, in order to adopt adequate sectoral support measures in the shortest possible time, in order to maintain liquidity, start economic activity as quickly as possible and preserve jobs.

PROMOTION TOUR

MORE than 70 local organizers of tours and activities in Serbia addressed the state leadership with a proposal for 12 measures for the recovery of tourism throughout our country. According to the people who run the “Serbian Adventures” platform, they are convinced that this would have a favorable effect on small tourism entrepreneurs, travel organizers and rural tourism. Also, the jobs would be saved and recovery would be possible.

Among the measures they proposed are increasing the number of holiday vouchers in Serbia, allowing their use through travel agencies and travel organizers, inviting the diaspora, but also promoting ourselves in the Chinese market.