While a good part of Europe is “locked” and all Christmas events and parties in the squares are under great question, tourists from Serbia have already started with payments and reservations for New Year’s arrangements.
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Budapest, Istanbul, Athens, Thessaloniki, but also Vienna and Prague are some of the cities where our citizens plan to welcome 2022. The travel agencies say that the interest is good, despite all the existing restrictions for entering these countries.
Most European countries ask our citizens to be vaccinated or have a negative PCR test, and those that our tourists are most interested in, generally accept all vaccines. The question, however, is why there is so much interest in Vienna or Prague, where the “closure” is currently in force, and which, according to the plan, should be completed around Catholic Christmas.
– They are applying for the New Year’s Eve and we are satisfied – they told us in a Belgrade travel agency. – They are mostly looking to go to Istanbul, Budapest, Athens and Thessaloniki. It is generally easy to travel there. They are also applying for Vienna and Prague, but the situation there is really uncertain. We almost didn’t work last year, so now everything is great for us.
Equally sought after and domestic destinations, Photo by G. Šljivić
There is interest in Egypt and distant destinations such as the Maldives and Zanzibar.
As Aleksandar Seničić, director of the National Association of Tourist Agencies of Serbia, explained to us, there is also interest in the countries in the region. This primarily refers to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, but also Croatia and Slovenia, at least when it comes to skiing.
– Passengers might go to Spain, but we do not have a direct flight, so it is an expensive way to get there – says Seničić.
– There will be safe plane arrangements for Egypt, Athens and Istanbul. Exotic destinations are offered throughout the winter. There is not much interest, but Dubai, Tanzania are on offer … There is great interest in domestic destinations, mountains and spas. Everything will depend on the decision of the Crisis Staff, but also on the authorities of other countries, how and where they will be able to travel.
According to the currently valid rules, our citizens can travel to Hungary and BiH without any measures. For all other countries, they need vaccines, that they have passed the covid or a negative PCR test. Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Northern Macedonia, Egypt, Austria, Turkey, Albania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Russia, Spain are some of the countries seeking PCR or a vaccine. To go to France, you need one of the vaccines that is not Chinese or Russian. And, in order not to return from the borders, because sometimes the conditions change from day to day, it is best to look at the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the trip.
About 120 euros should be set aside for the New Year’s Eve in Istanbul, by bus, for four days, while the price with air transportation is about 385 euros. The package in Budapest is around 150, in Moscow 800, and in Cappadocia around 200 euros.
WE ARE ALSO PREPARING FOR FOREIGNERS
TOURIST places in Serbia expect that there will be foreign guests for the holidays. In addition, they expect that our citizens will be the most numerous. Of course, all celebrations and organizations will depend on the epidemiological situation. It is believed that there will be a celebration, at least in hotels and restaurants.
With certain measures.
– It is difficult to assess whether and where foreign tourists will come from, but we hope for domestic guests – said Marija Labović, director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia.
– When it comes to foreign tourists, the region is in the first place. We expect that most guests will be from BiH and Montenegro, and probably from Slovenia and Northern Macedonia.
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