Bibanović: Charters are being cancelled, few citizens will go on annual holidays!

The devastating floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina have brought problems that will be very difficult to solve. According to initial data, several thousand houses will need to be built and a new category of displaced people accommodated.

Some politicians, including Bakir Izetbegović, Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, said that at this moment we must all be solidary and that it is shameful to have any extra mark at a time when some people have lost everything. He also said that he will not travel anywhere this summer, reports the Patria news agency.

According to initial data, travel agencies in BiH are seeing weak interest from BiH citizens in summer holidays, and Zoran Bibanović, president of the Association of Travel Agencies, told NAP that people should not give up on travel, because in times of crisis consumption should be encouraged.

- Our governments have thousands of cars, they take daily allowances, and we are supposed to give up our annual holidays. Let them give up their cars and weekend houses. We had precise data at the chamber that every mark spent brings 43 feninga to the state. So, it is necessary to encourage consumption at this time - says Bibanović.

He further states that the economy will thus move forward, and that we should follow the example of Germany, which gave citizens vouchers for money spent during the crisis.

- The people leading us have no connection with economics and have never earned 100 marks, but they handle million-euro budgets. The purchasing power of citizens is already weak, and fewer and fewer people are travelling. We have a situation where vocational schools do not go on excursions, only grammar schools still do to some extent. Parents do not have money to finance trips, and according to the regulations, 60 percent of children must be registered for an excursion to take place. Hardly any school in the Sarajevo Canton can meet that - said Bibanović.

Weak demand, says Bibanović, is also reflected in increasingly meager offers.

- In the very offer of packages and charter flights, it is evident that demand has dropped and therefore agencies do not decide on large rotations, because people no longer dare to take risks. Purchasing power has fallen - added Bibanović, explaining that tourism in BiH is a completely unregulated area, reports NAP.