In the framework of the International Danube Day, the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in the name of German Development Cooperation, organized international Conference “Sustainable Tourism Development in the Danube Region: New Perspectives”, from 29-30 June in Belgrade.
This important international event gathered tourism policymakers and decision-makers, as well as other public and private sector stakeholders from the Danube Region and beyond.
The aim of the Conference was to lay the policy and strategic groundwork for the development of joint sustainable tourism products and marketing platforms in the Danube Region and beyond.
Considering the United Nations’ (UN) designation of the 2017 as The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, this was an appropriate momentum to perceive the current situation in tourism, to share experiences and ideas regarding the advantage of a rapidly evolving tourism sector, gearing to a joint agreement on main priorities.
During the Opening Ceremony, the participants were addressed by Mr. Rasim Ljajić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Karla Hershey, UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Serbia and
Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO.
High Level panel, that followed, was moderated by Mr. Dirk Glaesser, Director of Sustainable Development of Tourism programme, UNWTO. Participants of the panel were:
- Ms. Nikolina Angelkova, Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Bulgariа
- Ms. Renata Pindžo, Deputy Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia
- Ms. Cristina Tarteata, Deputy Minister, Ministry of tourism Romania
- Ms. Eva Stravs Podlogar, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia
- Ms. Željka Radak Kukavičić, CEO of the National Tourism Organization of Montenegro
- Ms. Marija Labović, Director, National Tourism Organization of Serbia
- Ms. Lela Krstevska, Director, Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism of the Republic of Macedonia
- Prof. Slobodan Unković, PhD, Deputy President of the National Council for Tourism Development, Republic of Serbia
Joint Statement on Sustainable Tourism in the Danube Region was read in front of the audience (you may read it here). Participants attended the Signing Ceremony of the Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics. Second panel session with the theme “Investing in People: Bridging the Skills Gap” was moderated by Dr. Edit Szivas, UNWTO, Themis Foundation. The panelists were:
- Mr. Christian de Barrin, CEO, HOTREC
- Mr. Florian Aubke, Assistant Professor/Senior Lecturer, Dean, MODUL University Vienna Department of Tourism and Service Management
- Mr. Robert Gasser, General Manager, Marriot Belgrade
- Dr. Georgi Genov, Director, HORES
On the second day of the Conference, participants had opportunity to visit to the archeological site Golubac Fortress, board the cruising boat and cruise down the beautiful Danube, through Đerdap gorge till Donji Milanovac town. On the boat two of the panels took place.
Third panel session: Development and Promotion of Danube Transnational Tourism products, was moderated by Mr. José Manuel Fröhling, Group Private Sector Cooperation / Section “Tourism for sustainable development” Division Economic and Social Development, GIZ. The panelists were:
- Mr. Miguel Gallego, Head of Marketing and Communication, European Travel Commission (ETC)
- Mr. Oliver Fodor, Chief Advisor, Hungarian Tourism Agency
- Mr. Tom Buncle, Managing Director, Yellow Railroad
- Mr. Ljubiša Nešovanović, Director, Robinson Travel
Fourth panel session: Bringing Heritage to Life through the Creative Industries, was moderated by Mr. Michael R. Werner, PhD, Department of Art and Art History, University at Albany, State University of New York, and his panelists were:
- Stefano Dominioni, Ph.D. Executive Secretary, Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) and Director, European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR)
- Véronique Dauge, Head of Culture Unit UNESCO, Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy)
- Mr. Bora Dimitrijević, archeologist, former director of UNESCO site Felix Romuliana
- Ms. Niki Dollis, Director, President’s Office, Acropolis Museum, Greece
Mr. Zoltan Somogyi, Executive Director, UNWTO gave the Closing remarks.
At the end of this comprehensive event the group visited the Archeological Site Lepenski Vir.
You may find more information about this conference at the dedicated page on our web site.
