FEDERAL MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM POZDER FROM NEUM: WE WILL IMPROVE SYSTEM FOR REPORTING AND TRACKING GUEST ARRIVALS

NEUM, AUGUST 4 (ONASA) – The Days of the Mediterranean, a fair promoting agriculture and tourism, which was visited by the Federal Minister of the Environment and Tourism, Nasiha Pozder, will be held in Neum from August 2 to 4.
At the invitation of the Mayor of Neum, Dragan Jurković, and in the company of the Prime Minister and Ministers of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Marija Buhač, Emil Balavac and Marija Jurica, as well as representatives of the tourist boards of the Canton and Neum Municipality.
As part of this visit, a series of meetings and visits were held, so the delegation visited the rural estate Agroturizam Matuško, which has a fifteen-year tradition and offers local and traditional delicacies to guests from all over the world.
– We are in the middle of the season – Neum is full, that makes us happy but also obliges us to work extra. Here, together with Mayor Jurković and representatives of associations dealing with tourism, we are looking for ways to improve Neum as a destination, and we will do our best to use the Mediterranean advantage that Bosnia and Herzegovina has in the best possible way. What our guests and tourists have yet to discover is the Neum hinterland, where due to climatic and natural peculiarities, the best olives thrive, where the tastiest honey is produced, and places like agrotourism Matuško offer peace and real rest with food produced in their own garden – said Pozder.
The visit to Neum was also used for a tour of the oil mill, a meeting and conversation with representatives of the beekeepers’ and olive growers’ association about their view of agritourism and its role in strengthening the indigenous and quality offer of our destinations, as well as about plans for future cooperation and support.
In addition to beekeepers and olive growers, after a tour of the Puntar winery and a meeting with the owners who are developing the wine scene primarily based on local varieties, there was also a conversation with the association of hoteliers, where a special emphasis was placed on issues of quality and educated workforce, as well as guest registration systems and ways to which the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism can support for hoteliers. This Ministry, in cooperation with the Development Bank, formed a special interest-free credit line to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector. This program covers the costs of the interest rate of 2.5 percent and the costs of loan processing, and one million convertible marks has been set aside for its implementation. The goal is to stimulate the development of new and improvement of existing tourist products, including the increase of accommodation capacities.
Also, the Ministry is currently conducting public procurement for digitization in tourism, which should improve the system of registering guests, but also monitoring their arrivals and stays in the territory of the FBiH. The expected results of this project include the digitization of statistical data in tourism, improved control of tourist registration and de-registration at all administrative levels, enabling comprehensive tourism statistics in the entire Federation, increasing the number of tourists and collected tourist taxes, and facilitating strategic decision-making and planning in tourism.
Minister Pozder used the meeting with the Prime Minister of HNK and the Minister of the Interior of HNK to inform herself about the situation at the fire sites in Herzegovina, and once again the importance of raising awareness of responsible behavior in nature and strengthening the capacity of our emergency services was underlined. After the working visit, Minister Pozder attended the official opening of the Days of the Mediterranean fair, announced the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism. (end)