Serbian Tourism Suffers Damage of EUR 300 Million – Focus on Local and Chinese Tourists

There are no official data yet, but it is expected that the damage done to tourism by the coronavirus crisis will amount to around EUR 300 million, said the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia, Rasim Ljajic.

– Hotel owners estimate that they alone will lose EUR 230 million due to canceled reservations. Agencies claim that their losses will amount to 50 to 70 million euros – the minister said on the “Osvrt” TV show and added that more precise numbers would be known at the end of the year.

Due to the strong first three months in the current year, he said, Serbia has only 8% less tourist arrivals compared to the January-March 2019 period.

Ljajic explained what the government's decision which pertains to replacement of travel arrangements entails.

– If I paid for an arrangement, I can ask for my arrangement, with the same value, to be in the same destination, but in another time period, or in another destination, all the way up to December 31, 2020 – he said.

If someone doesn't want that, Ljajic says, the agency must repay them their money 14 days after December 31.

He said that, of the 123,000 paid arrangements that were supposed to be realized, 98,000 had been solved, meaning that, in some cases, repayments were made, whereas, in others, people opted for a replacement.

He said that, in the next period, Serbia would focus on local tourists, guests from the region, and that the campaign for the Chinese market was to start on May 15 through Alibaba's Fliggy platform.

– Through this platform, we will promote destinations in Serbia to Chinese tourists. We want to present the potential of Serbia to Chinese tourists as well as possible, considering that we've had a huge growth in the number of Chinese tourists – he said.

Regarding large gatherings in Serbia, Ljajic said that they were communicating with the organizers, who are still preparing to hold these events.

– The epidemiology situation is being followed and we'll see whether there will be cancellations or postponements. Dates may be changed. For us, from the aspect of tourism, it is important for those events to be held, but not at the cost of health – the minister said.

Talking about the tourist vouchers for vacations in Serbia, he said that they were meant for pensioners, the unemployed, registered farms and the employed with salaries up to 60,000 dinars, but added that the limit had been moved up to 70,000 dinars.

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

Ministry of Trade Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia

Alibaba

Fliggy

Rasim Ljajic

damage in tourism

losses in tourism

coronavirus

covid 19

local tourists

cancelled reservations

replacement travel arrangements

events

gatherings

vouchers