I often point out that trends in world tourism favor the offer that BiH already has, to a large extent. A verifiable fact.
Active vacations, authentic experiences, nature, local stories and smaller, quieter destinations. An offer that is largely based on spending time in nature.
However, this does not mean that we will adequately exploit this trend in the near future. Our focus is mainly on the number of visits, although attendance is a consequence, not a cause. Management is the process that determines how great these results can be.
In many of our places there are no significant unused capacities waiting for guests. So I don't mean the potential, but the current offer.
There are also no large numbers of empty beds, unsold products or services. What exists has mostly already found its market. Practically, we have as many tourists as our system can currently handle.
Destinations grow when they are managed. When capacities are planned, infrastructure is developed, service standards are raised, and market positioning is clearly defined. Promotion can partly bring in guests, but management determines how many a destination can accommodate without compromising quality.
Results in tourism do not come quickly. Serious progress becomes visible only after five to ten years, because tourism depends on infrastructure, market trust, recognition and continuity of investment.
What we have today is largely a result based on good and bad decisions from previous years.
That is why it is important that today we deal with the year 2030 or 2035, and not only this or the next season.
That's why tourism in our country only grows by a few percent a year. This is a direct reflection of the capacity of the entire system.
If we want more serious growth, tourism will have to receive more serious support. This is not a shame to say nor is it against anyone. That is the reality.
It is necessary to move from talking about potential to creating conditions that will enable growth. A more favorable business environment, more opportunities for investment, less bureaucracy, simpler procedures, clearer regulations and everything else, with infrastructure remaining the foundation.
For example, electricity, water and roads should not be considered an added value in 2026, but rather a prerequisite, whether it is the development of agritourism or the general development of smaller destinations.
At the same time, it is necessary to view natural resources differently as a value that needs to be protected and managed, and not just used in a thousand and one wrong ways.
Growth in tourism must be created.
And finally, we need to know that the aforementioned infrastructure and first contact with the destination begin with the story and experience of the destination before the guest even reaches the reception.
Also, the relationship with the guest is important. Exceptionally. The emotional memory of a tourist is created at the moment when he realizes that he has been deceived in any way or, in the best case, when someone welcomes him warmly and honestly, because the branding of a destination is most often influenced by what the guest feels in the first hour of his stay and arrival, and this has a much greater impact than any campaign through which we try to sell ourselves as a destination.