There is no mention of Covid passports in our vicinity as of yet, which will definitely continue to support the tourism industry in our neighbouring countries.

Zarko Joksimovic

Tourism in Kosovo. Some might wonder what that even is, though I would not entirely agree with those who undervalue the significance of this industry. I say this as a first-hand witness of a large number of foreign guests in Prizren and packed ski resorts in Brezovica, Prevalla, Arxena above Brod at Sara mountain, at this time of year. I could list many more destinations which see thousands of tourists during the summer, especially during weekends, however it is regrettable that tourism does not contribute nearly enough to Kosovo economy, despite its potential.

The pandemic, including last spring and partially summer’s border closures, has had its effect on hospitality. It seems that the already fading thread of religious tourism has been broken indefinitely, and the rescheduling of religious festivals has decreased the number of visitors to our part of the Balkans. Mytaher Haskuka, Mayor of Prizren, estimated that the city has lost 10 million euros of hospitality income last year due to the cancellation of the Dokufest documentary film festival.

This sector has suffered the most last summer, due to pandemic measures preventing large gatherings and celebrations. Long-planned weddings and Sunnet celebrations were cancelled. Two of the largest Eid celebrations were honoured rather modestly, as a large number of diaspora Kosovars couldn’t return to their homeland, significantly reducing hospitality earnings all across Kosovo.

The Kosovar government, both under Albin Kurti and later the leaving Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, has introduced support packages to support the tourism sector, though this hasn’t had much influence on the number of people in the industry who have lost their jobs.

It seems that tourism has seen some positive traction in the final quarter of the year behind us, despite the circumstance. Hotel and bar capacities were filled after the relaxation of anti-Covid measures, and winter centres saw a great number of visitors, even since before the new year. Unfortunately, the number of Covid-19 infections has been steadily growing over the past weeks, so it isn’t difficult to foresee that tourism will once again be at a loss.

There is a silver lining in all of this – the pandemic seems to have brought Serbs and Albanians closer together, especially last summer on the Albanian coast and this winter in Kopaonik. We have open borders and no PCR test requirements, and on top of that the ability for passport-free travel to Albania. As of recently, the same rules apply to Serbian citizens which means that this summer we’ll see crowds of Serbs and Kosovar Albanians together on the Albanian coast and, who knows, maybe even at one of our tourist destinations?!

There is no mention of Covid passports in our vicinity as of yet, which will definitely continue to support the tourism industry in our neighbouring countries.

 

 Zarko Joksimovic, author of several hundred reportages and documentaries for the former RTP, then RTS, RTV Vojvodina, TV Most and RTK2.