Six BiH destinations to present Bosnia and Herzegovina at the world's largest tourism fair in the capital of Estonia in October

By: Delvin Kovač

Six Bosnian-Herzegovinian destinations will have the opportunity in October to present Bosnia and Herzegovina in a positive light at the world's largest tourism fair called "Green Destinations 2023" in the capital of Estonia.

Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Šamac, Kozara National Park, Skakavac Nature Monument, Konjic and Trebinje have embarked on a long-term green certification process, thus distinguishing themselves as areas with the greatest potential for green tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Having met the first 15 of the total 87 criteria necessary for obtaining the "green certificate", which is the ultimate goal for each of the destinations, the listed BiH green local communities have earned the right to apply for the Top 100 best destinations in the world. In this regard, they will present their positive stories about tourism sustainability and the potentials they possess at the competition to be held as part of the fair in Tallinn from October 8 to 10 this year.

This would certainly be a great success for any of the BiH local communities, but not a surprise, as Trebinje achieved great success at last year's fair in Berlin by entering the Top 100 and winning in one of the categories.

Photo: Patria

In the previous days, Konjic hosted an educational workshop on the topic of sustainable tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was attended by 15 media teams from our country and one from the neighboring country (RTCG). The primary goal of the gathering was the promotion of the mentioned destinations that have decided to work on meeting the criteria for obtaining the "green certificate".

The potentials of Mostar and Žepče (including Zavidovići and Maglaj) were also presented, which, however, have not yet started the green certification process but have dedicated themselves to developing destination management - in Mostar they dealt with digital nomads, while Žepče, Zavidovići and Maglaj worked on establishing a functional model for these three local communities.

The workshop in Konjic was organized within the project "EU4BusinessRecovery", co-financed by the EU and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, with the aim of providing support to BiH in mitigating the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The project, worth 13.7 million euros, is implemented by GIZ and is focused on the export-oriented and tourism sector, encouraging the creation of new jobs, growth and development of enterprises, thereby making Bosnia and Herzegovina more competitive in the European Union market.

Project manager at GIZ Danija Krieg explained that GIZ supports the tourism and export-oriented sectors, and the support is aimed at increasing jobs and competitiveness in the European Union market.

- Support is increasingly focused on the green economy, digitalization and sustainable tourism. There can be no sustainable tourism until all actors are involved, namely authorities, local communities and the population - Krieg stated.

One of the lecturers at the educational workshop was the project coordinator at the company Green Visions, Thierry Joubert, who explained that Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Šamac, Kozara National Park, Skakavac Nature Monument Sarajevo, Konjic and Trebinje have started fulfilling the first 15, and the plan is to work on fulfilling all 87 criteria needed to obtain the conditions for the "green certificate" in the next two to three years.

- I am glad that these destinations were chosen because they are different, but each of them has the desire to develop their tourism potentials in a responsible way - added Joubert.

On this occasion, it was emphasized that the media also play a major role in promoting these destinations, as their reporting contributes to raising awareness about the importance and significance of preserving nature and cultural heritage, and raises the level of tourism culture that contributes to the well-being of primarily the local community, and consequently the entire society.

Ermin Smajlović, tourism advisor at GIZ, says that Bosnia and Herzegovina has fantastic tourism potentials, but unfortunately we treat them in a rather inadequate way.

- At GIZ, within the project "EU4BusinessRecovery", we strive to promote responsibility towards tourism and its sustainability. Thus, we supported six different destinations to meet the criteria of an international standard called "Green Destinations". And they had the opportunity to get acquainted, learn and see how it is done in the world.

Photo: Patria

And at the same time, I can say that in this regard we are quite competitive with world destinations. These are not big steps, it is important that we start this process with small steps - says Smajlović.

He says he hopes that in October in Estonia, some of our six destinations will manage to secure a place in the Top 100, and why not - perhaps even win in one of the categories.

- Last year we had a positive example of Trebinje, which not only entered the Top 100, but also won in the category related to destination sustainability with its story "Hercegovačka kuća".

Trebinje is already taking primacy, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also at the regional level, as the first destination that is truly taking concrete steps towards sustainability. Therefore, I believe that entering this competition can only give our local communities a great incentive to continue at an even stronger pace - adds Smajlović.

After the workshop, media representatives had the opportunity to visit the eight mentioned locations and see for themselves on the spot, in conversation with their hosts, how they are actually developing local tourism and what kind of tourist offer they have.

The team of the Patria News Agency was assigned by draw to the Kozara National Park, and we will bring you a report on our visit to the location where Veljko Bulajić's legendary partisan film "Battle of Kozara" was filmed in the coming days.