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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

International Tourism Fair opens in Belgrade

Belgrade, 21 February 2024

President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said tonight, at the opening of the 45th International Tourism Fair, that for the first time in the history of Serbia, the number of foreign guests exceeded the number of domestic tourists last year.

On that occasion, Vucic pointed out that according to the barometer of the World Tourism Organization, in 2023 our country was the first destination in the world in terms of the growth rate of income from foreign tourists compared to 2019, namely 79 percent.

According to him, the foreign exchange inflow from tourism in 2023 amounted to a record €2.55 billion, which is €1.112 billion more compared to 2019.

He stated that last year, Serbia had a total of 4.2 million tourist arrivals, as well as 12.4 million overnight stays, which is more than double compared to the period of 10 years ago.

Also, as he added, in 2023, Serbia increased the number of foreign guest arrivals by 15 percent compared to the level before the pandemic, while the international trend was a drop of 12 percent compared to 2019.

The President said that Belgrade will be the bearer of the country's development thanks to the Expo 2027 exhibition, but all our other tourist destinations will also develop - from spas, mountain centres, to new wine tours and destinations.

We will present the country as a place of innovation, modern technologies and one of the leaders in artificial intelligence, certainly at least at the level of countries of our size and economic strength, he explained.

We will have to strengthen our offer in the cultural sphere as well, Vucic stated and added that this strengthening of the historical and cultural offer does not apply only to Belgrade, but also to Lebane, Justiniana Prima, Kablar, Zajecar, Kostolac, Nis, the roads of the Roman emperors and other.

He specified that this year's fair gathered approximately 400 exhibitors from 27 countries, while the partner country is Greece, a favourite destination for Serbian tourists.

The International Tourism Fair, the 45th in a row, was opened in the presence of Greek Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni, and the official opening was also attended by Minister of Tourism and Youth Husein Memic, Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic, Minister of Justice Maja Popovic, Minister of Education Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Jelena Tanaskovic, Minister of Family Welfare and Demography Darija Kisic, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic and others.