Event industry important for more attractive tourist offer

BELGRADE - Over 2,000 events are held in Serbia every year, helping boost tourism and many other sectors, noted participants of a meeting that brought together event professionals at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) on Friday.

The event tourism attracts visitors from Serbia and abroad, and a survey by the Tourism Organization of Serbia showed that special events are one of the key reasons for foreign visitors to come.

Serbia has yet to recognize the full potential of the event industry, and organizers should work on presenting their events to the wider community, PKS Deputy President Zdravko Jelusic said.

Special events bring profit not only for local tourism, but also the wider community, said Secretary at the PKS Association of Tourism and Hospitality Business Dragana Sabic.

The event industry is under-regulated to a great extent. Nevertheless, events such as Exit, Trumpet Festival in Guca, the film festival FEST, Belgrade Music Festival- BEMUS, managed to become easily recognizable across the world, Sabic said.

Around 180,000 people work in the event industry that has registered growth for years. In 2013, tourism generated a profit of over EUR 1 billion, said representative of the company Sacen International Dragan Gligorijevic.

During today's meeting, participants addressed the issues relating to public procurement, creative industries, souvenirs, copyright and risks in tourism.