Beocin, Sremski Karlovci, Irig join forces to develop rural tourism

Those who would like to hear a tamburitza band playing and try Vojvodina's wine or cuisine can go to any holiday resort north of the Sava and the Danube. If one wishes to visit an ethnic house or a farm, the offer is still huge. However, if a guest comes to Vojvodina with the intention of hunting a jackal, trying a cake at the Gugelhupf Festival, buying an apron or socks at an ethnic market, or visiting an Austrian-Hungarian castle, he or she cannot find all that in one place.

That is why three municipalities - Beocin, Sremski Karlovci and Irig, joined their forces in a project aimed at improving rural tourism - in order to offer their guests an opportunity to learn more about this area. On the other hand, that will also provide farmers, craftsmen and caterers with more work to do.

The first necessary thing to do was to create a registry of all service providers and producers of traditional products, as well as to open an info center. In that way, the Srem Souvenir Shop, a house that serves as an info center, has been opened in the center of Beocin.

After that, catalogs were printed and a joint website was designed. Finally, two two-day routes named "The Fruska Gora Holiday" were created and offered to travel organizations.

- The program we've designed includes various activities - from visits to wine cellars, restaurants with traditional cuisine and various events, depending on the season, to visits to cultural sights, monasteries, churches... I believe that Fruska Gora will be interesting to travel agencies and that they will soon include our program in their offer – Jelena Pascan, representative of the municipal administration of Beocin, says for eKapija.

Jackal hunt and Gugelhupf Festival

Those who love to hunt will have the best time on the slopes of Fruska Gora in February - associations of hunters from Banastor, Cerevic and Beocin organize a jackal hunt on the first Saturday in February, and this year's hunt was the 15th they have organized

The Gugelhupf Festival gathers people from Karlovac on the last weekend in June to bake traditional German cakes.

Of course, there are many other competitions - wine makers, fishermen, athletes, painters and others, so that even the most demanding tourists will be able to find something they like in one of these three municipalities.

(Grammar School in Sremski Karlovci)

Religious tourism

The municipality of Irig is famous for its rich cultural and historical heritage and priceless spiritual wealth comprising as many as eight monasteries. Novo Hopovo, built in late 15th century, was a home of Dositej Obradovic, and there are also Ravanica (Vrdnik), Grgeteg, Krusedol, Velika and Mala Remeta, Jazak, and Staro Hopovo.

A long list of cultural events organized in this part of Vojvodina includes, among the rest, the following: the literary event "Milici u Pohode" in Vrdnik, a fine arts colony in Sremski Karlovci, a festival of choirs singing spiritual music in Cerovic, etc.

RSD 3.3 million from the province

The Provincial Secretariat for Local Self-Government and Intermunicipal Cooperation backed the project Rural Tourism Development in Municipalities of Beocin, Sremski Karlovci and Irig, of which implementation commenced in January 2011, with RSD 3.3 million.

(the monastery of Velika Remeta)

- Our final aim is to develop small farms because the closing of large industrial systems in cities would also leave a large number of people in rural areas without job. That is why we motivate them to "produce" what they can sell, such as tourist services - accommodation, food and souvenirs that are specific for this area - says Jelena Pascan.

She adds that the organization of ethnic markets (every Sunday in another place) will make it possible for producers to connect with buyers without a mediator.

Fedor Pusic from the Agency for Rural Development of Irig, which was also a partner in the project, adds that the advantage of this program lies in the fact that its implementation can result in the engagement of a big number of people of different professions.

He hopes that further development and bigger sales of traditional products and food will enable producers and craftsmen to join and form cooperatives.

M.S.

Opština Irig

Opština Beočin

Opština Sremski Karlovci

Kongresni master centar Novi Sad

Novosadski sajam a.d. Novi Sad

Pokrajinski sekretarijat za regionalni razvoj, međuregionalnu saradnju i lokalnu samoupravu Novi Sad

Sava

Danube

rural tourism

religious tourism

Milici u pohode

ethnic market

Fruska Gora

Srem Souvenir Shop

Fruska Gora Holiday

Jelena Pascan

Investexpo

Rural Tourism Development in Municipalities of Beocin Sremski Karlovci and Irig

farm

jackal hunt

Satrinci

Banastor

Cerevic

Fedor Pusic

Novo Hopovo

Ravanica

Krusedol

Grgeteg

Velika Remeta

Mala Remeta

Jazak

Staro Hopovo