Kosova Airlines Seeking Partners to Achieve Ambitious Growth Plans

KOSOVO
Tourism
to Its Bow Pointing the Way to an
forbidding ‘Accursed Mountains’
in the west. This dramatic landscape
has also presented the opportunity
for the Kosovar authorities to
further develop its activity-based
tourism. The country is a haven
for hikers and is working hard to
build up its nascent ski industry.
The centre of skiing in Kosovo
is currently situated at Brezovica
in the South of the country near
Prizren. The Department of
Tourism is not only planning to
expand the quality and infrastructure
of the Brezovica resort but
also roll out other winter resorts in
other parts of the country. While
Brezovica may need €50 million to
turn it into a thriving resort it can
take heart from the experience
of Bansko in Bulgaria which went
through a rapid transformation
and now attracts 150,000 British
tourists annually.
However, according to Bujar Kuqi,
the Director of the Department of
Tourism, the immediate concern
of the government is to improve
the general infrastructure for
tourists in the country. “We are
focused on repairing the infrastructure
needed for tourism,
which will allow the full utilisation
of our tourism potential which
until now has not been realised
because of the service level of
tourism development,” says Kuqi.
With three Balkan countries
ranking in the top ten countries
in the world for projected 10 year
tourist growth according to the
World Travel and Tourism Council,
Kosovo can take heart. Initial steps
have already been taken to improve
the country’s tourism infrastructure.
The ease of visiting Kosovo is
immediately apparent with short
travel times from Western Europe
and no visa requirements. The
government has also already been
working on improving the quality
and quantity of accommodation to
meet the expected increase in the
number of tourists. This will also
allow for niche tourist sectors such
as Meetings Incentives Conference
and Exhibition (MICE) tourists.
However, in order to achieve
this goal, the authorities have
recognised the need to implement
a set of standards and benchmarks
to maintain the quality of the
sector. This will require a rigorous
licensing system that assures the
highest standards of accommodation,
infrastructure and service.
The authorities are also
working hard to put together
a promotional strategy for the
country. According to Kuqi, “We
are in close cooperation with other
institutions in Kosovo in order to
create a greater image of Kosovo,
presenting it as a secure place for
tourism, as a new country, as a
place that has enough capacity for
visitors and to finally eliminate the
image that Kosovo has had until
now as a conflict area.”
The country is therefore moving
in the right direction and with
such latent potential the country
could soon be mentioned in the
same breath as more prominent
Balkan tourism destinations
such as Croatia, Montenegro
and Bulgaria. With clear and
transparent planning, the
government is well placed to lure
many more European tourists
looking for a change of scene and
a diverse range of activities and
sights over the coming years.
69