In recent years, the Sarajevo International Airport (SIA) has been in full expansion, which is one of the key factors for the tourism development, also including the elite tourism, i.e. visits by rich guests. Bearing in mind its significant role, the Airport Management is aware of its position; therefore, they focused on the reception and comfort of “special” guests.
The Sarajevo Airport features three business lounges – exclusive VIP lounge, CIP business lounge and Premium business lounge which will be opened soon.
Exclusive VIP lounge enables reception and sending off of high officials, persons of special significance as well as organization of business meetings. It is a special facility which enables the customers to hand over their luggage to staff, and to go directly from the VIP lounge to the airplane. It is possible to rent the entire facility (42 persons); one can rent the central lounge space or book conference rooms for oneself, a suite and a work room. Only in this year, the exclusive VIP lounge was rented on 275 occasions, SIA Press Office says.
Business class lounge (CIP) is on the first floor of the new part of Terminal B, stretching at 268.80 m2, with the capacity of up to 105 persons. Staying in a nicely furbished business class lounge offers travellers maximum comfort during the stay at the Sarajevo International Airport, with all accompanying services. The business class lounge has been visited by 23,677 travellers by October.
Premium business class lounge, to be opened soon, stretches at almost 400 m2 with the capacity of 85 seats. It consists of four main and three additional zones: zone bar/services, meal with a counter zone, rest zone and work zone. Additional zone includes the prayer room, meeting room and studio suite, the Airport Press Service says. The environment has been additionally refurbished for comfortable stay, including cosy furniture for various purposes.
The view from the room spreads on the runway which opens up a beautiful horizon towards the Olympic Mountain Igman which makes the environment special. We would like to draw attention to the studio suite in the lounge where customers may relax in privacy while taking rest on cosy sofas or using private bathroom to get refreshed between flights.
Knowing that elite tourism requires the infrastructure available at the Sarajevo Airport, the dean of the College for Tourism and Management in Konjic, professor Marijana Semič-Šećibović, Ph.D. says that the Sarajevo Film Festival is one of the world-renowned events which opens the door to the luxury tourism.
“A luxury service means workers who have relevant competence and who get trained continuously in order to respond to demands of the tourists with high purchasing power. As the modern world is strongly divided into the rich and the poor, our country is a very attractive destination for both categories. The problem emerges when a tourist of above-average wealth has a demand to which our tourism industry is not able to respond. If we as a destination wish to develop elite tourism, we should know that elite guests, in addition to luxury accommodation and top restaurants, demand entertainment places, events and cultural performances. The quality of offer and services must be superior. They want to be seen at such destinations and to see those alike. It is extremely important to first answer the question about whether we have conditions for the development of elite tourism or not?! Elite tourism requires big investment. We must be careful in strategic planning. A suggestion could be – let’s develop elite tourism in nature, in protected areas”, Semič-Šećibović believes.
The College for Tourism and Management in Konjic has entered the European Project Geoparks of South-eastern Europe. With this Project, Bosnia and Herzegovina creates the possibility for a serious development of one part of elite tourism with glamping (elite camping). Glamping is a fusion of two opposites – a five-star hotel and a camp. The furniture in the accommodation is designed by world-renowned designers. This can include tents, but also wooden cottages, tree houses… Glamping conquers the region, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its groves, forests, rivers and lakes is a gem to be enjoyed and recommended to tourists with the deepest pocket.
Bagrem Glamping in the vicinity of Jablanica offers luxury dreamed about. Serenity, quietness and a perfect natural environment are advantages, but the disadvantage for the development is the infrastructure. In this case, the limiting factor is the road infrastructure which will not be modernized soon, unfortunately”, says Semič-Šećibović.
The professor concludes that the development of the luxury tourism requires the involvement by the government, private capital, expert teams, education institutions and individuals.
A current offer for guests who like luxury is quite modest, touristic workers agree and send the message that BiH has enormous potentials regarding the development of elite tourism.
A prominent businessman and owner of the ethnographic village Čardaci in Vitez, Mirko Šakić thinks that BiH has not used even 10 percent of the touristic potentials available.
“We must learn, we must love this country. We must promote its natural beauty, for example, mountains Prenj, Zelengora, Vlašić or rivers Una, Pliva, Buna… The Neretva River valley, Ramsko lake and dozens of other sites, one more beautiful than another. There are stunning areas for the development of adventure tourism which can attract rich guests. It is necessary to build infrastructure and content in order to attract them and make them stay longer, and we also need luxurious facilities”, says Šakić for our magazine.
In order to become the destination for the elite, he is of the opinion that we must raise awareness of our people, invest in education of the touristic workers and further promote our potentials in general.
President of the Association of the tourist industry businessmen BiH Senad Halilović points out that BiH has a lot to offer in the domain of elite tourism.
“Guests at that level need to be treated as special; however, I am afraid we have not created such offer yet. Therefore, we must work hard to create the offer which will satisfy interest and wishes of elite tourists”, Halilović points out.
Middle class and elite of any country are dominant population category which needs to be attracted as tourists, as these are people who earn good money in their countries, i.e. Netherlands, Belgium or Germany and they as tourists with their families have the possibility to spend a lot. Therefore, if we observe BiH, our population as well as our country would benefit a lot from this type of guests.
Professor of economy and expert for tourism, Fuad Bajraktarević, Ph.D., explained that.
“Middle class in rich countries is the most dominant one, even 51-56 percent of population belong to middle class; such people are very wealthy. This class should be encouraged and attracted as guests. A combination of tourists of middle class and wealthy guests can surely give enormous economic results. In order to deal with this type of tourism, our country needs to organize the system because we need to offer content to the elite which we want to become a part of our tourism. In order for rich people to come to visit BiH with their families or companies and to stay a month in BiH, what are we going to offer them? That is not simple or easy. We have to set a clear strategy; we have to gather leading experts in the field of tourism who will make a plan and programme…It is necessary to provide a clear definition of goals and start working with the long-term perspective. That would bring us a huge benefit. Our citizens would benefit, and our government would indirectly benefit through various taxes”, explained professor Bajraktarević.
The professor points out that the offer for guests who have a plenty of money to spend must be versatile, with all accompanying elements.
“Sadly, even if you wish to make something, you face huge bureaucratic obstacles. Bosnia and Herzegovina is abundant in touristic potential; however, there must be a development strategy at state level so that citizens and government may eventually get economic benefit”, concludes our interviewee.
Denis Cakić, owner of the Grand River company in Konjic, which offers services of rafting, cycling, hiking, jeep tours, also thinks that BiH has enormous potentials, but the offer is not yet at the level of elite tourism.
“We do not have anything to offer for tourists who wish to spend 1,000 dollars per day. But it can be worked upon. We attend fairs and present out touristic products. The Balkans might have some VIP destinations, but BiH has still long way to go” says Cakić.
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