Hadžiefendić-Mešić: There are guests, but few report them, controls have not yielded results!

Almost complete absence of snow at the beginning of 2014, protests that escalated into violence in February, and May floods are phenomena that caused fears that BiH would experience a debacle in terms of tourist visits, writes the Patria news agency.

However, parallel to these adversities, BiH also hosted events that attracted a large number of tourists, such as the 30th anniversary of the 14th Winter Olympic Games, the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, and the 20th jubilee Sarajevo Film Festival, which were reasons for the Tourist Association to state that they are satisfied with the number of arrivals in our country so far.

Asja Hadžiefendić-Mešić, spokesperson for the Tourist Association in BiH, says that they can be satisfied with the current part of the year, but that the burning problems of tourism workers have not been resolved.

Namely, as Hadžiefendić-Mešić states, currently, for example, there are many tourist facilities in KS alone that are not registered.

- And it is a fact that we have registered facilities that have not reported a single overnight stay, and the facility has not been closed. There is dissatisfaction among tourism workers who are legally doing their job. So, obviously, the major action from last year, when the inspection, together with SIPA and the Office for Foreigners, conducted detailed controls, has not yielded results – says Hadžiefendić-Mešić.

On the other hand, she points out that the winter season is still uncertain, as it is unknown whether there will be snow, and ZOI 84 is in such a state that no one knows if the mountains will be ready for the ski season, even if there is snow.

- Of course, we must not exclude Jahorina from this, which is visited by a large number of tourists who stay in Sarajevo – added Hadžiefendić-Mešić.