China Serbia Continuously Deepens Tourism Cooperation

Chinese tourists are very important for Serbian tourism, and we look forward to the continued growth trend of the number of Chinese tourists coming to Serbia, "said Candic, State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Tourism and Youth.
In recent years, tourism cooperation between China and Serbia has been continuously deepening. The visa exemption agreement between China and Serbia came into effect in 2017. In 2019, 145000 Chinese tourists visited Serbia, making China the largest source of international tourists from Serbia. Last year, China and Serbia opened direct flights.
The Serbian tourism industry is actively taking measures to attract Chinese tourists. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Serbian Hotel and Catering Business Association, Vasilievic, stated that the association will strengthen coordination with local hotels and restaurants based on the needs, interests, and habits of Chinese tourists to provide better services. The head of the association, Gennov, stated that hotels and restaurants in Serbia will collaborate with Chinese partners to collect evaluations from Chinese tourists on the service quality of hotels and restaurants, and continuously improve service levels.
In February of this year, Serbia held the 44th Belgrade International Tourism Expo, with China as the guest of honor. According to Zhang Kexiong, assistant to the general manager of China Travel Service Travel Service Co., Ltd., at the enterprise fair held during the Expo, China and more than 30 Central and Eastern European enterprises docked on tourism, exhibition, business and other fields, and reached preliminary cooperation intentions. When visiting the Chinese booth, President Vucic of President of Serbia said: "The Serbian Chinese friendship stems from a high degree of mutual trust, and the two peoples are sincere friends. The Serbian side is constantly improving the quality of tourism services, and welcomes more Chinese tourists to visit Serbia."
In May of this year, the Minister of Tourism and Youth of Serbia, Meimi ć, and his delegation went to China to visit Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, exploring new opportunities for tourism cooperation between the two countries. He stated that both Serbia and China have rich tourism resources and have broad prospects for cooperation in the field of tourism. The Serbian side will promote mutual understanding between tourism enterprises and institutions of the two countries, expand promotion, and provide more high-quality tourism products for Chinese tourists.
The tourism cooperation between Serbia and China is also showing a diversified trend. In 2019, the China Serbia Tourism Institute, jointly established by Zhejiang Tourism Vocational College and Belgrade Applied Technology College in Serbia, built a bridge for cooperation in tourism culture between the two countries. In May of this year, the Serbian Luban Workshop jointly established by the two sides was officially unveiled. In addition to providing courses mainly focused on academic education, it will also provide vocational training for Serbian Chinese restaurant practitioners in the development, production, and catering services of Chinese cuisine.
Ivona Rajvac, Deputy Director of the Serbian Institute of International Politics and Economics, believes that the deepening of tourism cooperation between Serbia and China has made personnel exchanges between the two countries more convenient, laying a good foundation for enhancing people's hearts and minds. Serbia China tourism cooperation will undoubtedly usher in broader prospects.