The South East Europe (SEE) is getting more and more attractive for international tourists and operators. The countries of South Eastern Europe are set to become major tourist destinations over the coming years. Rich in cultural heritage, the region boasts some of the world’s most picturesque and vibrant towns and cities. For SEEbtm magazine, in cooperation with tourist organizations in the region we have researching which events in the SEE countries have the regional and international significance.

According to the Macedonian Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism, the Agency focuses on developing cultural events in Macedonia. The most attractive events of the kind in Macedonia are Vevčanski Festival, Ohrid Summer Festival, Ilindenski Denovi  and Struski veceri na Poezijata. One of them, the Ohrid Summer Festival today presents a great dignity and an exceptional cultural gain for Ohrid and the Republic of Macedonia; a manifestation with which Ohrid and Macedonia can be represented with dignity in the world. Through the past 49 years The Ohrid Summer Festival gained its affirmation as one of the most important cultural manifestations in the Republic of Macedonia. Alongside with that, it succeeded in keeping the pace with the European and global cultural flow, reckoning among the privileged and most important festivals in the world. This is as well confirmed with the membership of Ohrid Summer Festival in the Association of the elite European festivals for 15 years now. It is certain that in the 50th edition of Ohrid Summer (2010), in its traditional term 12th July – 20th August, Macedonia will have another shining edition with all its peculiar characteristics that make the festival special, recognizable and unique in our area.

The Romanian Tourist Organization – Rumänisches Touristenamt, based in Berlin, recognizes as the most attractive event drawing the international tourists the XVII International Festival of theatre – held in Sibiu, Romania, on “Questions” topic, between May 28 – June 6, 2010. This festival is the most important manifestation of this kind in Romania and the third worldwide in scope and importance. On this issue it is proposed to attend participants from 70 countries and will be presented 350 events that will take place in 66 areas of play, expecting 35 000 people daily. During the ten days many critics, Romanian and foreign directors, operators of local and regional cultural tourism will meet in Sibiu to enjoy the creations and artistic creativity of the events.  Theatrical dance, flamenco, ballet, contemporary dance, puppet shows, light show and pantomime will be presented. There will also be a series of photo and painting exhibitions, conferences, debates, workshops organized in unconventional spaces, all this making of Sibiu a real cultural capital of the world.

The Organization states that Romania could easily host music and festival events, but also medium sized sport events such the one mentioned above. There are some political or medical events which already took place in Romania, especially in Bucharest, which were very successful. However, when it comes to the number of visitors, the statistics of the National Statistic Institute do not show the number of visitors according to the purpose of visit.  Last year, due to the international economic crisis, Romania registered as well significant decreases in number of visitors, mainly from Europe, – 17,56 % . But in Rumänisches Touristenamt they hope that soon, with the launch of the new brand of this country, Romania will be able to advertise more the events which take place in Romania, regardless of the type of the events.

Since event tourism plays a major role in Croatia too, it can be observed that the last few years featured a growing number of cultural, tourist and sports events in this country. Some of the most prominent ones are Pula Film Festival, Motovun Film Festival, International Carnival of Rijeka, Musical Evenings at St. Donatus, International Children’s Festival in Šibenik, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Eurokaz International Festival of New Theatre Zagreb and many others. In 2010, The Croatian National Tourist Board will continue to financially support a number of different cultural-tourist initiatives – projects, then tourist, entertainment and sports events, products or happenings, raising the standards of interpretation, equipage and quality of the cultural-tourist products, evoking the history and tradition. It all contributes to creating a critical mass of new cultural-tourist products interpreted in contemporary style, enriching the Croatian tourist offer, that is, the products that are important for Croatia’s total tourism and its promotion. Dubrovnik Summer Festival, to be held from 10^th July to 25^th August, as Croatia’s oldest and most respectable festival, offers the classical drama and ballet performances shown in the streets and squares of this proud Renaissance-Baroque city. Every year, Dubrovnik Summer Festival welcomes the world’s famous composers, soloists and orchestras. The performance in the ancient buildings of extraordinary acoustics such as Atrium of Rector’s Palace, lends a special charm to the Festival.

The slogan “Montenegro-Wild Beauty“ has been recognized as the synonym to the unique mix of the dramatic intact nature and high quality reach, so that as such it suits all types of events. In one day in Montenegro, a tourist can enjoy the Mediterranean essence at the Carnival in Kotor or Camellia Festival, and a dramatic view of snow- and ice-covered Prokletije mountains. Its proximity to European cities and the traditional hospitality recommend Montenegro despite the challenges that all tourist destinations face due to global tourism trends. Given the said attributes of Montenegro, the National Tourism Organization insist on the mountain adventures such as the Paths of King Nikola, Montenegro Off Road Discovery, Adventure Race, but the Montenegrin Adriatic Coast is also in focus in festivals such as the Mediterranean Song, International Folk Dance Festival, Refresh Festival and other summer music and local cultural festivals. This year’s 16^th edition of the Paths of King Nikola, started from Belgrade on 29^th April 2010 and ended in Cetinje on 2^nd May 2010. The XVI Paths of King Nikola is a historic road cycle race exploring Montenegro’s deep canyons and high mountains. It is an annual road cycle race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Continental Circuit. It attracts more than 20 teams from all over Europe. To maintain the tradition of the event, the race actually starts in Serbia.

Slovenia has events of all kinds, to suit everyone’s taste. Every day there is a chance to see the work of the best artists from Slovenia and from further afield, while there are concerts and festivals at which to enjoy great music. The events with the highest international profile are primarily hosted by Ljubljana and Maribor. Ljubljana is the World Book Capital in 2010, while Maribor will be the European Capital of Culture in 2012. Ljubljana is home to Slovenia’s cultural epicentre, Cankarjev Dom, which offers a huge range of events throughout the year. Some of the main cultural events in the capital are music festivals, such as the Summer Festival, the Jazz Festival and Druga Godba.  Some of different Slovenian events that attract a lot of visitors each year are WORLD SKI FLYING CHAMPIONSHIP in Planica, Vitranc Cup at Kranjska Gora, International Carnival Festival Kurentovanje, ROK OTOČEC – SLOVENIA’S BIGGEST ROCK FESTIVAL, Music Lent Festival in Maribor Franja Marathon biking event, and others.  Slovenia is very rich in terms of the number of different events and festivals. Just Ljubljana alone hosts over 10.000 different events each year. According to the Slovenian Tourist Organization there is a growing number of visitors at these events and festivals every year. Last Year Vitranc Cup was attended by a total of around 16,000 spectators from Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Italy and other countries over the course of the two days. Visitors are attracted not only by the chance to see top skiers in competition, but by the programme of activities running parallel to the main event The Vitranc Cup is one of the largest, best organised and best attended traditional sports events in Slovenia.

When we asked the National Tourist Organization of Serbia to single out the events in Serbia which were most attractive for international and regional tourists apart from the internationally renowned ones such as Brass Bands Music Festival in Guča, EXIT, etc., they mentioned a number of local events and festivities, some of which have international potential as we speak. These include Beer Fest in Belgrade, Beer Days in Zrenjanin, carnivals in Vrnjačka Banja and Pančevo, Boat Carnival in Belgrade. The Serbian tourism development strategy insists on the importance of the event tourism offer in Serbia through several segments of this product, focussing on culture and art in the first place in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica and Niš, with cultural festivals as the core drivers of the product promotion; then on sports, given a high share of Serbia in the world’s sports, organizational capabilities and available infrastructure; and on indispensable entertainment as one of the key segments of event products, either traditional or modern. As already mentioned, the most frequented events in Serbia, and at the same time the most famous ones in the international tourist market are Brass Bands Music Festival in Guča and EXIT in Novi Sad. These events are visited by hundreds of thousands of people, there of dozens of thousands are international tourists, most of them from the region and West Europe. Given the growing importance of this tourist product worldwide, that is, the growing interest in learning about other cultures, customs and traditions, we expect the rising trend to continue in this tourism segment. Serbia is expected to see continued growth in visitors, mostly from the neighbouring countries – the region and West Europe. Aleksandar Suša with the National Tourist Organization of Serbia believes that Serbia should insist on hospitality, openness and entertainment in its tourist positioning. The event as a tourist product may achieve success and attract quite a number of international visitors in a very short period of time, with somewhat better organization and without any major investments. The growth potential for this product owns marketing strength for an additional promotion of Serbia and more intense customer loyalty towards Serbia.

Event tourism is recording a rise on the global scale, as well as in Belgrade, according to the Tourist Organization of Belgrade. People use more and more of their free time for travel throughout one year, and some events may influence their decision to visit a certain destination. It is expected that the number of guests coming to Belgrade will grow following the entry of low-cost airliners and the promotion in the local and international markets for no other reason than big events. Most guests are expected to come from Germany, Italy, Greece, France, Great Britain, and the neighbouring countries too.

Interviews with:

Agency for promotion and support of tourism, Macedonia – Ms. Dijana Zaturoska

Rumänisches Touristenamt – Mrs. Nicoleta Pop

Hrvatska turistička zajednica, Glavni ured – Mrs. Đive Zuber

National Tourism Organization of Montenegro  – Ms. Milica Antić

National Touristic Organization of Serbia – Mr. Aleksandar Šuša