Tim Clancy and his colleagues at
Green Visions are helping to build a sustainable, eco-tourism market for visitors to Bosnia-Herzegovina; but without the capacity to compete with established destinations, they are doing it the hard way: one visitor at a time. Their knowledge of this beautiful country is encyclopaedic, and they offer a slice of Bosnian hospitality, nature and cultural heritage to suit almost every taste. The embryonic Bosnian tourist industry began catering to foreign aid and agency workers, soldiers and other war-time visitors who came, saw Bosnia and often fell in love with the place. The number and connectedness of wartime visitors to Bosnia provides a useful network to reach potential tourists; but now, for the first time, people unconnected with Bosnia's past are
starting to visit, and there is literally nothing like it in Europe, as many of us have known for some time.
On May 20, the Foreign Office kindly hosted an event to
promote Bosnian tourism, where Tim's new book,
A Guide to Bosnia, was launched. Paddy Ashdown headed the event, which took place at the very bling-bling
Lancaster House. Lord Ashdown
made a good case for Bosnia being "Your next adventure". He is clearly a genuine fan of the country, and given his role as the
High Representative of the United Nations that is a good thing. The event was the last leg in a European tour to promote the "Bosnia: Your Next Adventure" initiative. It included a wonderful, haunting rendition of the old Mostar song Emina, and a speech by Britain's Europe Minister, Dennis McShane, who spoke eloquently in support of the initiative, as did several knowledgeable Bosnian tourism representatives.
As well as the hiking, rafting and skiing, there's also a lot going on in Bosnian towns. The reconstructed (formerly 16th Century)
Mostar Bridge, from which the town takes its name, is being re-opened in late July and tens of thousands will be there to watch. With any luck, this will be the last time for another 500 years, so don't miss it! There is also the respected
Film Festival and
Bascarcija Nights in Sarajevo, plus a whole host of other events (including with any luck the reincarnation of
Tito. For the nerdier among us, the
Bosnian Institute in London is a good place to start on your research, with an online
searchable 3,000-book library about Bosnia-Herzegovina and a huge
online archive of news, events and articles about the culture and history of BiH.
By joining one of Green Visions' small-scale tours to Bosnia, visitors can have a great time whilst also giving support to local efforts to protect the environment. Along the way they will learn a lot about hospitality and kindness, and see some of the best mountains, nature, people and cultural heritage (and bridges!) in the whole of Europe. This is a rare chance for eco-tourism to influence the development of a new national tourism industry.
See
Green Visions for more information.
Your next adventure: How social networks created during wartime can support post-war eco-tourism in Bosnia
Please, pay more atention to the west part of Bosnia, do more visits and go out from Sarajevo to learn more about Bosnia.You are welcome to visit us in Krajina to clear out some information cause it is very hard for us over here to represent our eco tourism besides all those offers in Sarajevo area.I would like to meet Tim Clancy personaly so my girlrlfriend doing research about it in Bosnia to have more facts to complete her disertation abouot tourism in Bosnia and Hercegovina in Bornmouth university....her e-mail is sabineguen@gmx.de so help her if you find some time.
Sincerly yours