Banja Luka has recorded historical maximum in the past years in terms of tourism, and since 2017, it has been actively working on regional promotion, with an emphasis on active holidays and festivals.
At Banja Luka Tourist Board they say that this city’s great chance is on the regional tourist market, the position of Banja Luka between regional centers such as Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Ljubljana, Osijek, Novi Sad, Mostar, since they are all within a circle of up to four hour drive by car.
– Despite historical maximum of tourism, and given the potential of Banja Luka, the city is not yet sufficiently positioned on the tourism market. Of course, from year to year progress is noticeable. Restriction on the further improvement of tourism is an insufficient number of accommodation capacities, as a total of 1,900 beds are registered and the introduction of cheap flights through Banja Luka Airport – explained Mladen Šukalo from Banja Luka Tourist Board.
According to the latest statistical data for the first ten months of 2017, Banja Luka was visited by a total of 68,259 tourists who made 104,974 overnight stays, which means that the average stay was about one and a half day.
The largest number of tourists Banja Luka has in May and October, having in mind that the number of visits are fairly uniform throughout the year.
– The lack of seasonality in Banja Luka tourism is good for the tourism industry and the quality of the tourist offer. This tells us that Banja Luka is an attractive tourist destination throughout the year – said Šukalo.
Tourist Board of the city of Banja Luka has no indicators for monitoring visits of certain tourist sites. However, based on the interest of tourists expressed through info centers and via Internet, most tourists are interested in visiting the narrow town center and fortress Kastel, visiting the Trappist Monastery of Maria Zvijezda, rafting on Vrbas and other interesting events.
