At the session held on 4 August this year, following the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Government of the Federation of BiH accepted the Draft Tourism Development Strategy of the Federation of BiH 2022-2027, and sent this extremely important document, in the form of a proposal, to the FBiH Parliament for adoption.
With the professional support of the FBiH Chamber of Economy and USAID Tourism, the strategy was designed as a driving force for development of sustainable tourism, with a focus on increasing the number of tourist arrivals, stays and spending, increasing the percentage of tourism in GDP, creating new jobs and attracting direct foreign investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Development generator
Special attention is paid to gender equality, and inclusion of people with disabilities through employment and adaptation of tourist products.
The tourism development strategy defines four priorities – development of tourist products, destination marketing, development of human resources and improvement of the stimulating environment for development of sustainable tourism. Through the strategic goal of accelerated economic development, a measure to support development of entrepreneurship in the tourism sector has been established.
The need to identify the tourism potential of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and promotion of tourist destinations, as well as development of rural tourism, was particularly emphasized. The common point of view is that rich tourism potentials, with careful and planned investments, can be put into operation in a relatively short period of time and become a generator of economic development.
Let us remind you that back in 2017, according to the information adopted by the FBiH Government, the Strategy for Development of Tourism in the FBiH for the period 2018-2028 should have been drawn up. However, the problem was the procedures that took place in the cantons. The work group that was formed in May 2018 prepared the project task and sent the questionnaire to the representatives of the cantonal authorities responsible for the field of tourism for comments and filling. Unfortunately, not all cantons were up-to-date in their declaration.
New strategy
After the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2020, an agreement was reached with representatives of the USAID Office for Economic Development of BiH that the USAID Tourism project, in cooperation with the FBiH Chamber of Commerce and Economy, as a strategic partner in this project, will work on development of a new strategies.
The FBiH Chamber of Economy made partnership with USAID Tourism (Sustainable Tourism Development in BiH project) official by signing a Memorandum of Understanding.
The adoption of this document was preceded by extensive public consultations that were conducted, taking into account all suggestions, remarks and proposals presented in public hearings held in all cantons with the presence of representatives of competent cantonal ministries and interested economic entities.
