BUSINESS NEWS gitisation and resilience dominate debate at event in Bosnia last week. Ian Taylor reports from Sarajevo


Flights rise 6% this summer to Bosnia and Herzegovina


Bosnia and Herzegovina has seen a sharp rise in flights year on year from the UK this summer, according to tourism data analyst Mabrian. But Mabrian reports flight


capacity from Germany down by almost a third (31%) on last summer and capacity from Switzerland down by 16%.


Carlos Cendra


54% rise to neighbouring Albania and 27% increase to Montenegro. He noted prices in the region


remain generally lower than the average around the Mediterranean and said: “There is room to grow in the higher end [of the market].” Cendra reported a 9% increase


Carlos Cendra, partner and chief


marketing and communications officer at Mabrian, noted overall capacity to Bosnia and Herzegovina is up 6% year on year this summer. However, that compared with a


in air capacity by the Gulf carriers last year and a further rise this summer. He suggested increasing tourist traffic from the Gulf would support an increase in mid and high-rate hotel beds and facilities. But he noted a need to “maintain


high hotel satisfaction levels when prices increase”.


Economic growth tipped to boost travel spending


The industry can be “cautiously optimistic” about the global outlook for travel and tourism despite “significant economic uncertainty”. That is according to David


Goodger, managing director for Europe of Tourism Economics – part of economic forecaster Oxford Economics – who told the summit: “Travel is returning to normal trends.” He noted: “International travel


just about recovered to the 2019 level in 2023 and we expect it to get there in 2024. Then we expect it to get back to its [previous] growth trend.” Goodger explained: “We’re


looking at fairly steady growth in incomes and spending in the major source markets [and] inflation is coming under control.” But he added: “There are a lot of


risks – interest rate risks, tensions in the Middle East, war between Russia and Ukraine, tension between China and Taiwan.” He suggested: “Trump being re-elected is a risk.” Goodger warned: “We could see


travelweekly.co.uk


interest rates stay high and stagnation continue. There is still a squeeze on people’s budgets. People are spending more on living costs.” However, he said: “We expect to


see some economic growth and we see spending on travel prioritised. “Across advanced economies,


consumers spend on average about 8% of their discretionary income on leisure travel. That fell off a cliff in the pandemic but jumped back last year and all the indicators suggest that this year it could be above 8%. “The source markets driving


growth in international overnights in Europe are Germany, the UK and the US. The key concerns are the costs of accommodation and the cost of flights. [But] we’re starting to talk again about ‘overtourism’. Visitors want to return to tourism hotspots and we’re going to see overcrowding.” Goodger noted: “We see a slower


recovery in leisure travel spending in developing markets, but we expect a recovery this year.”


David Goodger He reported a gap in the


volume of international travel to southeast Europe compared with the immediate pre-pandemic period “when growth averaged about 10% a year between 2015 and 2019” and said: “There is some caution as to whether it will return to that rate.” Yet he forecast 11% growth in


international tourism to Bosnia and Herzegovina this year. The country attracts just 1% of international visitors to the region. Greece attracts 40%, Croatia 20% and Bulgaria 10%.


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‘Use data wisely to help shape your tourism strategy’


Destinations need digital strategies and data to inform decision-making but should not see digitisation as an end in itself. That is according to Marina


Ferfolja, head of research and analytics at the Slovenian Tourism Board, who told the summit: “It’s easy to get lost in all the [digital] possibilities. You need a strategy and to ask ‘why are we digitising?’” She noted: “Destination


marketing organisations are moving from marketing to management and digitisation can help. So, you need to digitise and you need tools. Digitisation allows us to scale and to make better decisions, to create more efficiency.” But she added: “We’re


committed to sustainability in Slovenia and it is key to every decision. For us, it is sustainability first and digital second.” Saso Krumpak, founder of the


Halki destination reservations system in Slovenia, agreed: “Organisations prioritise digitisation sometimes for digitisation’s sake.” Tomi Ilijas, chief executive of


Slovenian technology company Arctur, said: “Without data you can’t make a good decision.” But he added: “You need not just to have the data but to analyse it.” Mabrian’s Carlos Cendra added:


“Everybody can get data. [But] you don’t need to know everything. You need something of value.”


Marina Ferfolja


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