Launch of UBT Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation Coincides With Tourism Strategy 2016 Workshop
03/12/2015UBT’s Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation was officially launched on December 3, 2015 in conjunction with a tourism strategy workshop co-organized with the Austrian Kosovo Society. Invited guests involved in the sector of tourism in Kosovo were presented with information relating to the current state of tourism in the country and heard recommendations and opinions for a better strategy in 2016 by various experts and stakeholders in the field – both local and foreign – with a special emphasis on the German-speaking market. The workshop was a follow up to the first Austrian Kosovo Tourism Day held on September 16th and 17th at both UBT and Hotel Magra in Bogë.
Kicking off the event was the coordinator for the new center, Larissa Olenicoff, a California native now living in Kosovo with a background in travel journalism and extensive experience working with tourism in Europe. In addition to writing for travel media outlets such as Lonely Planet, she maintains her own travel blog which mainly focuses on the Balkan region and is a huge proponent for utilizing social media in destination marketing.
Revisiting the “10 Demands for Kosovo Tourism” that were discussed at the first tourism event back in September, she emphasized the importance of professional training for people involved in tourism, creating a more positive image of Kosovo through marketing, and the need for more coordination and communication amongst stakeholders. As an institute carrying out research, certifications, and training in Kosovo’s capital city, UBT and its Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation are in a prime position to facilitate many necessary improvements in the country’s tourism sector.
Next came a fascinating presentation on Pristina’s heritage and touristic potential by Florina Jerliu, a leading cultural heritage expert in Kosovo and Head of the Department of Architectural History, Theory and Built Heritage at the University of Prishtina. As the capital of Kosovo, Prishtina has the potential to attract more tourists if it works to reclaim and preserve its cultural heritage not only in the city center, but also its surroundings. A standout concept from her presentation was the vision of a historical zone around the old bazaar area to be connected to the main pedestrian zone of Mother Teresa Boulevard via Ibrahim Rugova Square.
Prolific businessman and owner of Eurokoha, Remzi Ejupi, shared his experience leading Kosovo’s main airline and largest tour agency for more than a decade. While he criticized the government’s approach to tourism and economic development, he made clear the main problem lies in the lack of a vision and strategy. He drew comparisons to Macedonia’s more successful policies in this regard and pointed out that a large market exists for business travelers already with much potential to be seen in the future with mountain tourism.
Gunther Dress, a visiting tourism expert from the Bavaria region of Germany, presented his impressions of Kosovo after spending a week traveling around the country along with recommendations for future development of the sector. Drawing parallels to post-war Germany, he provided great examples of the development of rural tourism and the “Romantic Road” route in Bavaria beginning in the 1950s. Types of tourism in Kosovo with the most potential according to Mr. Dress were cultural, mountain, rural, congress and events.
Closing the first panel was Bekim Xhafa, CEO of Congress and Event Organization, who has helped organize many successful events throughout the country and is planning a tourism fair in Kosovo April 21-22, 2016. Using Dokufest as the greatest example, he emphasized the importance of events and fairs as a means to bring more tourists to Kosovo.
Opening the second panel of the workshop was Sali Shoshi, owner of Catun and Director of the Cultural Heritage Without Borders office in Kosovo, who discussed his experience as a tour operator offering bike tours and hiking tours in Western Kosovo. He pointed out the great need for more biking routes and signage for tourists as well as the lack of capacity building and professional staff in tourism in Kosovo. Another important expert in the field of cultural heritage, Mr. Shoshi mentioned some 1,500 cultural heritage monuments around Kosovo available to tourists yet stressed the importance of preservation interventions over further excavations.
Following Mr. Shoshi was Boban Petrovic from the Tourism Organization of Gracanica (TOG), an NGO established to promote tourism in this municipality due to the absence of a national tourism organization. Amongst the many promotional activities in which TOG are involved, opening a Tourism Information Center in Gracanica and communicating with the organizers from the EXIT Festival in Serbia about a possible collaboration in the future were a couple of its larger projects and aspirations.
Visar Kelmendi took to the podium on behalf of USAID’s Empower project showing a short video about the extension of the Via Dinarica megatrail into Kosovo and discussed the trail marking that began this summer. The 800 km hiking trail which extends from Slovenia to Macedonia aims to bring international outdoor adventure lovers together with locally owned and operated small businesses within each country as well as foster cross-border cooperation.
The final presentation that took place was by Albion Idrizi, Managing Director at AltaVia Travel and owner of Gearsup Solutions, currently working on a project for the local promotion of touristic packages in Peja, Deçan, Junik e Zubin Potok in partnership with PPSE. He presented data from a survey they recently carried out with the most notable findings being that lack of available information is the greatest impediment for attracting tourists to Kosovo and that spring is perhaps the best season to focus on for tourism as there isn’t enough capacity in summer and transportation significantly more expensive.
Overall, the workshop was highly informative and again successful in bringing important tourism experts and stakeholders together to discuss what needs to be done in 2016. Kosovo’s potential to benefit economically from tourism is great, but it’s clear that the government needs to work much harder on adequate strategies involving the private sector to realize this. It is also clear that a qualified workforce in tourism and hospitality is lacking and something UBT is in a position to facilitate in addition to more research in this field through the Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation.
For more information or queries related to the center, please contact Larissa Olenicoff/larissa.olenicoff@ubt-uni.net.
More coverage of the event found here: Shteti t’i kthejë sytë kah turizmi (FOTO + VIDEO) http://zeri.info/ekonomia/65444/shteti-t-i-ktheje-syte-kah-turizmi-foto-video/