Tourism Development Discussed at Plum Fair

(Patria) - Panel discussions were held at the international fair of agriculture and food industry this year as well. The first panel, on the second day of the 50th jubilee Plum Fair, discussed the topic ‘Tourism Products and Human Resources in the Tourism Development Strategy of TK’. Guest speakers were Prof. Dr. Semir Ahmedbegović, Prof. Dr. Bahrija Umihanić, Prof. Dr. Almir Peštek, and Prof. Dr. Željka Stjepić Srkalović.

The tourism development strategy of Tuzla Canton should be a platform for all future activities regarding the development of tourism and the overall economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The discussion focused on what motives can be turned into tourism resources, and through thematic forms of tourism, create more tourism resources that would be active during different parts of the season throughout the year.

‘We start from a tourist motive, which turns into a tourism resource and becomes one only when other tourism factors exist. These are transportation, accommodation capacity, hospitality, and others that assist tourists in a given situation. We also had recent problems concerning Tuzla Airport, which is expected to leave a mark on tourist traffic,’ said Professor Ahmedbegović.

It could be concluded from the panel discussion that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not thinking in terms of mass tourism, which is increasingly less interesting in the tourism market; instead, the focus is on smaller, specific, and local forms.

‘When we offer a healthy environment, food, and water, then we can offer an arrangement that will speak about a tourism product based on health, because health must be the focus. People insist on this because they want to move in a healthy environment, and we must offer what others do not have,’ said Prof. Dr. Semir Ahmedbegović.

The Gračanica fair, which has been running for fifty years due to serious agricultural production, as well as agro-tourism, was highlighted as a special form of tourism. Along with this environment, cultural and historical heritage, which have a combined effect, cannot be omitted.

The second panel was on the topic of the importance of higher education programs for tourism development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The panelists who addressed the audience were Prof. Dr. Meldina Kokorović Jukan, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tuzla, Prof. Dr. Drago Cvijanović, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality in Vrnjačka Banja at the University of Kragujevac, Prof. Dr. Nemanja Berber, Faculty of Economics in Subotica at the University of Novi Sad, and Nina Kovač, representative of USAID Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The discussion covered experiences, creation, and innovation of tourism study programs and the competencies these programs provide, as well as their significance for secondary school hospitality and tourism programs. Nina Kovač presented projects for the development of sustainable tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the achieved results.