SERBIA - National review no. 18

Prologue

In last year’s first special edition of National Review about tourism (”Tourism 2009”), we started from the beginnings and short history of tourism, a sketch of its phenomenology, the chronology of the most important events, and reached far. Now we continue where we left off.
The pages of ”Tourism 2010”, besides well known top destinations, indicate some less familiar destinations with big potentials and space for creative and enterprising people.
All relevant tourism workers from Europe as well as other continents will be in Belgrade in late February, at the 32nd Tourism Fair.
Both at the fair ground and in this edition.

See you there, see you here.

GALLERY

CONTENTS

Prologue
THE 32nd INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR IN BELGRADE
Investigating All Formulas

Vitrage
NUMBERS, EVENTS, INTERESTING THINGS

Beautiful Face of Serbia
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DRAGAN BOSNIĆ AND ŽELJKO SINOBAD

Presentation
32nd INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR
Belgrade Fair, February 24 to 28, 2010

My Corner of Serbia
EMIR KUSTURICA, FAMOUS DIRECTOR, THIS FEBRUARY IN DRVENGRAD, EXCLUSIVELY FOR ”NATIONAL REVIEW”
Fairytales Still Exist
Awarded with the greatest film awards of this world and century, an authentic music star, member of the ”No Smoking Orchestra”, famous directing professor, actor, creator. He could have lived in any of the most elite places in the world, with the most famous and most powerful people of his time, however, without second thoughts, he decided to find his home in a forgotten corner of Serbia and make it his own, make it ours (again). In only six years, from a beautiful remote place, he made the officially most attractive tourist destination in Serbia. Why? How?

By: Rozana Sazdić
Photo: Dragan Bosnić

Decision
TEN MOST INTERESTING TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN SERBIA, ACCORDING TO VOTES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BELGRADE CLUB OF TOURIST JOURNALISTS
Obstacles and Plenitude
The biggest problem with the list of ten most attractive destinations is that only ten destinations can really fit into it. This time, we include Mokra gora, Tara with the Canyon of Drina, Vlasinsko Lake, Đavolja Varoš, Stara planina, Zlatar, Felix Romuliana, Palić, Prijepolje with Mileševa and Lim, the area of Negotin…

Text and photographs by: Dragan Bosnić

Monuments of Nature
RISOVAČA CAVE NEAR ARANDJELOVAC, 80 KILOMETERS FROM BELGRADE
In the Bosom of the Marble Mountain
Discovered in mid-XX century, by accident, during the works in Venčac, it is one of the most visited caves in Serbia. The visitors can see its 170 meters throughout the year, but estimations are that it is several times longer. Especially beautiful among the cave ornaments are the ”Risovača Organ” and the crystal ”White Mane”

By: Sonja Belić
Photo: Goran Kovačević

Welcome
THE NORTH SERBIAN PROVINCE IS THE NAME FOR NOBLE-MINDEDNESS, WIDE -OPEN SPACES AND HARMONIOUS WEALTH OF DIVERSITY
Yes, all that plain
We know each other. We ogle all the time. We know its endless fields that feed our family and relatives, its skies, rivers, lakes, two mountains, forests and wetlands, its wine, music, food specialties its dance called ”Cardas”, its traditions and its modern... It knows, from the first moment, why and how much we love it. Its castles, farms, fortresses, nature reserves, picnic places, hunting grounds - have been for a long time not only the national brands, but also well-studied components of ambitious tourism development

By: Helena Duković

Destinations
NIŠ, TOWARDS GREAT CHALLENGES
Times of Improvising Are Behind Us
The ”Morava” Society for the promotion of tourism in the city of Niš and the then Morava Province was founded already in 1930. Making a retrospective of the tourism development during the previous 80 years, the southern Serbian capital continues preparations for the pan-European celebration of 1.700 years of the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.) with which Constantine the Great, born in Niš, made Christianity the official religion in the Roman Empire, and the foundation of Europe until the very day. Soon a special Bureau for International Cooperation in Science, Culture and Education will be opened in Niš. It will concretize all the planned projects and connect the activities of Niš with the activities of European partner cities in this great undertaking

By: Goran Budimir

Recommendation
ZAJEČAR, THE CENTER OF THE TIMOK PROVINCE, AN EXAMPLE HOW A LOT CAN BE DONE FOR ONESELF WITH ONE’S OWN EFFORTS, WITHOUT MYSTIFICATIONS
No One Will Do It for You
The Popova Plaža location on the Timok first used to be a flea market, then a desolated area for avoiding. Today, it is one of the most nicely arranged sports and recreational complexes in Serbia. A modern ski center was raised on the southern edge of the town. And the town has simply not been the same since

Road Sign
THROUGH THE SVRLJIG TIMOK CANYON, BY RAILS AND PATHS
The Last Train for the Old Rail
While developed European countries make efforts to make the railway traffic faster, more efficient and cheaper, the international financial institutions recommended Serbia to keep only two of its railways and cancel all the rest. From the picturesque route of one of the railways ”checked for cancellation” the reporters of National Review bring a full suitcase of proof that it is unwise to hurry with the implementation of such recommendations. Beauties, tourism, different way of earning income, the Shargan experience, are only some of the arguments which support the thesis

Text and photo: Dragan Bosnić

Perspectives
A CULTURAL AND SIGHTSEEING TOUR THROUGH SERBIA
Reflections of a Rough Diamond
Two years ago, the Serbian Ministry of Culture started the ”Cultural Routes of Roman Emperors in Serbia” project. Due to different circumstances, this praise worthy undertaking did not move much further from the initial enthusiastic statements before cameras. It is still only an unused potential (and ”the trains pass by, they won’t wait”). National Review is taking you down one of the possible routes of that future road through the cultural and archeological heritage of Serbia, not only from the Roman era, waiting for people and time that will really turn this excellent idea into reality

By: Vojislav Filipović

Treasuries
MUSEUM OF SERBIAN MEDICINE IN BELGRADE
Illustrative History of Healing
When St. Sava wrote the Chilandar Typikon in the XIII century, he dedicated the 40th chapter to organizing hospitals in Serbia. Who can treat and who can be treated. So began the today famous written history of Serbian medicine. This museum exhibition and the inspired guide through it are convincing testimonies of it. Among almost 3.000 exhibits, probably the most unusual one is a tooth filling in a more than a millennium old skull

By: Jovan Vučković
Photo: Dragan Bosnić

Invitation
OHRID, 7.000 YEARS OLD CITY MUSEUM AND ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE DESTINATIONS IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
Pearl at the Shore of a Freshwater Sea
As a merge of wisdom of centuries and postmodern tourism, this ancient city in the present Republic of Macedonia leaves a strong impression on every visitor. Its magical lake, lights and music, cuisine and wine, beaches and famous pearls, the old fortress, churches, promenade, cafés and clubs, quietly and eternally become part of your nice experience and  everlasting memory. Why is this the city ”one always returns to”?

By: Jelena Nikolić

Festivities
FEBRUARY, THROUGH THE SNOW ON EYELASHES
Another Round with Love and Wine
It used to happen that the shortest month of the year somehow unnoticeably pulled through our lives. However, if we stop, we will feel it filling with the scent of acacias, carnival harlequins and the forgotten dishes prepared during the White Week preceding the Easter lent. St. Triphun, protector of vine growers and vintners, St. Valentine, protector of those in love and Candlemas, when winter and spring meet, all rush to meet each other in February and are all picturesquely celebrated. In Serbia, Candlemas is also the Uprising Day, the National Day, the holiday after which the first Constitution of the renewed Serbia was named...

By: Dubravka Preradović

Guide
MILOŠ CRNJANSKI (1893-1977) AND A matchlessly DEEP BOW TO MR. BELGRADE
Eternal Passion of the Glorious Town
The famous writer wrote his guide ”Belgrade” in 1936, in French. Even today, that little book is a supreme tutor of writing about, dreaming, loving, building, defending and understanding one’s city. During the several millennia of Belgrade history, no one has ever written better or deeper about it than Crnjanski, dandy and warrior, short-tempered and gentle, fire and breeze, with the scent of gunpowder and acacia. When will Belgrade repay him?

By: Dragana Bukumirović
Photo: Aleksandar Ćosić

More than a History
SERBIAN ROYAL SPAS BUILT DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES LOOKING UP TO THE BEST SPAS IN EUROPE ARE BACK IN FOCUS
The Revival of Old Elegance
Both ruling dynasties of modern Serbia, the Karadjordjević and the Obrenović, in the 19th and in the 20th century gave a crucial contribution to the opening of the Serbian spas and health resorts, and their development was modeled looking up to the elite centers in Europe in that time. That's how palaces, villas, hotels, streets and squares, drinking-fountains and fountains, luxurious bathrooms, halls, salons, casinos, promenades started to sprout... Judging by the revival project, soon this will not only be a nostalgic memory but also an important element in the development of Serbian tourism. And how was this world really like and what is the thing about it which is so attracting even today?

By: Radmila Tamindžić

Action
PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANY ”PARKING SERVICE” WITH BELGRADE FIRST GRADE PUPILS FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW
Safety and Traffic Culture
With the support of the City of Belgrade institutions and Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the aim of the creative campaign ”School children ask you to slow down when passing by schools” is to influence drivers to slow down in zones around schools and influence the youngest school children to pay special attention to their behavior in traffic

More than a Memory
FROM AN OLD NOTEBOOK OF A TOURISM REPORTER
Old Traces for New Morals
It was a different way of living, loving, being happy and traveling. Everything was much poorer and much richer. You got more with less, it was somehow sweeter, more fulfilling and deeper. Although there was no talking about experts for all kinds of things, specialists and gurus, it seems that people knew much more about some simple and important things than they do today. Before us are four lovely stories with morals from different periods of the second half of the XX century. Can anything from them be applied in our time of boring pretentiousness?

By: Srba Janković

Summoning
LISA BROWN, AN ENGLISH LADY WHO CONSIDERS SERBIA HER HOMELAND
The Power of the Homeland and Other Joys
She is the owner and director of The English Book, the company representing Oxford University Press, the biggest university publisher in the world, for this part of Europe. She supplies Serbia, Srpska and Montenegro with the best textbooks and methods for learning English, she organizes summer schools in Nottingham and Brighton, cooperates with the Serbian Ministry of Education. Perhaps the most enchanting idea for her is how to most impressively present the beauties of Serbia to foreigners, the land of her origin

By: Danijela Dragićević

Media
ALMOST A DECADE OF EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE RTS SPECIAL TV SHOW ON TOURISM
The Aspects of Returning to Oneself
Do local tourists, unlike the foreign, still see Serbia as a second-class destination or is it true that big steps forward were made? Why are places in Serbia with an unusual or fairytale-like way of life constantly fascinating, places where the people still have the value system based on honesty and tradition? What is the importance of the experience of seeing the life-size portrait of Karadjordje in the Church of Gratitude, when we enter the Jerma canyon or Lazar’s cave, quietly sail to the middle of the Uvac lakes (not to scare the bald eagles), taste the ayvar with apples, poppy cake, fish rind, bermet with chocolate…? The author of the ”Guestbook” TV show writes exclusively for National Review

By: Svetlana Zrilić

Media
INTERACTIVE WINDOWS CONTINUE SPREADING THROUGHOUT SERBIA
Our Unimposing Companion
The ”picture of a thousand words” addresses the human, not the mass. It is adjusted to personal and actual needs, instead of endless unselective bombarding of all people with all information. The new interactive windows were placed in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pančevo, Užice, Ivanjica, Zlatibor... They are growing into promoters of the whole cultural and tourism offer of Serbia, and becoming a reliable guide

Examples
THE COLLEGE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT IN BELGRADE, A WINNER’S VIEW OF THE WORLD
Knowledge + Skill + Creativity
We have already reported about their successes, medals, victories throughout the world, about the authentic and obviously very fruitful educational model, with two hours of supreme lectures and five hours of practice. The most famous educational institutions in the world of this type now carefully follow their work and ask for regular and high quality exchange of students and experience. All this enables the College of Hotel Management in Belgrade to remain in the world focus

By: Zoran Plavšić

Insurance
”DDOR NOVI SAD”, OUR FAITHFUL COMPANION, POINTS OUT WHAT WE NEED FOR A RELAXING VACATION ABROAD
Health Insurance for the Whole World
Visas are cancelled, distances are closer, the roads are waiting. However, the red passport, hotel vouchers and travel tickets are not the only documents which will provide a relaxing vacation. Serbian compulsory health insurance is still not valid in many countries. So, if you do not wish to take your chances and bear all the costs of unexpected medical treatment or medical interventions, the right solution is DDOR’s policy of travel health insurance with assistance. What exactly do you get with it and how does it function?

Presentation
Wellness Center
one space, one soul, one touch

Hosting
BELGRADE RESTAURANT ”K 2”, BETWEEN NEW BELGRADE AND ZEMUN, A PLACE FOR TRUE CONNOISSEURS
It Has It All
Here you can complete the circle of hedonism, from piquant dishes made according to the incomparable old recipes of our grandmothers, to the truly best Serbian wines and deserts and supreme Cuban cigars. It also has what Italians, French, Spaniards or Germans need to have when out of their countries