Trucks, buses, cars bring money - Velika Plana pins hopes on transit tourism

In its Master Plan, which is still under design, Velika Plana has earmarked a zone in the valley of the Velika Morava river for the development of tourism. This area already features a picnic grounds and several restaurants, and the plan is to build new recreational and tourist facilities on that territory.

- We are already working on the regulation of the valley of the Velika Morava river, and the construction of another restaurant is underway. We want to build new facilities to offer the visitors of our municipality an adequate tourist picnic grounds - Boban Ilic, an independent expert associate for the local economic development of Velika Plana, says to eKapija.

Since it streches along Corridor X, this municipality also develops the transit tourism.

- Velika Plana has marked the transit tourism as a priority in its strategic documents, primarily because a highway goes through Velika Plana. Two motels - Lozovicka Cesma and Stari Hrast, the hotel Highway Velika Plana, the newly opened McDonald's restaurant McDrive on the highway and the ethnic village Moravski Konaci are a proof that the geographic position of Velika Plana significantly contributes to the development of tourism on this part of Corridor X - says Ilic.

Our interlocutor points out that hunting and fishing tourism is extremely important for this municipality on the Velika Morava.

(Pokajnica Monastery)

- Our municipality also features numerous cultural and historical monuments and cultural events, which make it a good destination for the development of religious tourism. I would like to mention Koporin Monastery, an endowment of Despot Stefan Lazarevic, as well as the Church of St. Archangel Gabriel-Thanksgiving Church (Zahvalnica), which was built in 1930 by King Aleksandar I Karadjordjevic as a miniature model of the Oplenac-based church within the complex named Radovanjski Lug. There is also the monastery church Pokajnica (Penitent Church), which is a log cabin dedicated to Holy Father Nicholas the Miraculous (summer St. Nicholas) and is one of the most significant churches of the kind in Serbia. This is the reason why it has been declared a monument of exceptional value. In the village of Krnjevo, on the territory of the municipality, there is an old school building that was built in 1779.

Velika Plana also plans to develop sports tourism. The municipality already possesses required infrastructure for athletic activities - more than 20 outdoor courts, a sports arena, an outdoor Olympic swimming pool, a mini pitch and tennis courts.

- The plan is to build an inflatable arena for mini sports and tennis through a public-private partnership and to make all sports facilities in the municipality operational, so that Velika Plana could host athletes in both summer and winter.

Italian investors interested in Velika Plana

Velika Plana has defined 14 work zones in its Spatial Plan. Ilic says that investors who decide to invest in Velika Plana enjoy various benefits and privileges.

- The investor does not pay the building land development fee, which amounts to 15-20% of the estimated value of the investment. What makes the work zone Sever in Velika Plana even more attractive for investment is the fact that it is equipped with complete infrastructure (electricity, water, sewerage, gas, optics). The municipality of Velika Plana helps every investor negotiate the price when buying a land from a private owner.

eKapija's interlocutor also says that they "receive queries from investors" on a daily basis, mainly from Italian companies that supply components-spare parts to Fiat.

- Our municipality is also interesting to metal companies with a flexible product portfolio. There are also investors interesting in the agricultural sector, primarily because we are an agricultural municipality that increasingly grows vegetables.

Among the priorities of the municipality in the following period is also the development of certain areas on the basis of strategic documents, such as energy efficiency of public facilities and renewable energy investments.