The official launching of the project "Sail through Serbia"

The official start of the "Sail through Serbia" project was marked on April 4, with a conference held in Sombor. The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić, the director of the Port Governance Agency Vuk Perović, the mayor of Sombor Antonio Ratković and the advisor for sustainable tourism in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Marko Bajić participated in the conference.

Minister Vesić pointed out that the project involves the construction of new passenger terminals and marinas because it depends only on us how many tourists will come to us. A more significant volume of water traffic will ensure further development and a new face of Serbia.

"Since 1836, the naval flag of Serbia has been flying proudly on our ships, it is like this to this day and it will be like this as long as we are around. We have 1,680 kilometers of waterways in the country, over 610 kilometers of canal network, two international rivers and one interstate river, all of which we have not used at all until now," Vesić said.

He stated that in the year 2019, 1,542 cruise port calls and 208,000 passengers were recorded, and that last year's nautical season ended with 1,419 port calls and 135,000 passengers. He added that this year we can expect to break the record in terms of the number of passengers.

"This project, in which 28 million euros will be invested, will contribute to that. Marinas will be built in Smederevo, Veliko Gradište, Golubac, Kladovo and Sombor, we will build an international passenger terminal in Banoštor, like the one recently opened in Sremska Mitrovica, and we are finishing one in Šabac," Vesić said.

Director of the Port Governance Agency, Vuk Perović, presented the project and pointed out that the goal is to build infrastructure, but also to raise the awareness of citizens, local administration about the importance of development of nautical traffic in Serbia.

According to him, the Agency initiated the project in order to build the missing nautical infrastructure and raise the visibility of the nautical potential of our country in the domestic and international frameworks.

"Serbia is a landlocked country, but it has absolute nautical potential. It is connected to all seas in the world by its rivers. We will put Serbia on the world map of nautical champions. We have two international rivers, the Danube and the Sava, as well as other significant rivers, which is more than a thousand kilometers of waterways. Tourists will have the opportunity to sail through various eras, see numerous cultural and religious objects, and learn about the diversity of confessions and people," said Perović.

Perović reminded that eight international passenger terminals are currently open. He added that by the beginning of the next nautical season, three international terminals will be opened - in Šabac, Zemun and Ram, and that through the project, terminal in Banoštor will also be constructed.

When it comes to marinas, he stated that in the previous period, the port areas of four marinas were declared, namely in Golubac, Kladovo, Smederevo and Veliko Gradište. He pointed out that canal traffic will be developed for the first time in our country, where international tourism is expected in addition to domestic tourism.

Perović also spoke about line traffic. "We have one or two ships that have an irregular travel schedule, the government's intention is to acquire ships for this purpose. The result of the project should bring that in five years we have a five percent increase in total revenues from nautical tourism, and our country more visible on the European and world nautical map," he concluded.

The mayor of Sombor, Antonije Ratković, said that he is happy and proud that the project is starting from that city.

"There are several reasons for that, the first is that Bezdan is the place where the Danube enters Serbia, the second is that half of the course of this mighty river is here, and the third, and the most important for our city, is that our country recognized the significant potential of our city, which opens numerous possibilities for economic development of Sombor," Ratković pointed out. He pointed out that Sombor is a city of exceptional nautical potential.

"Our plans are to enrich the area near Bezdan with a tourist information center, walking paths, sports and recreational complex, rest areas, and the plan is to build a marina with 120 berths and accompanying infrastructure for smaller vessels. We are proud to say that Sombor offers exceptional opportunities for the most diverse types of nautical tourism, our mission is the development of nautical tourism that will be tailored to every tourist, for the benefit of all citizens," said Ratković.

The pilot project, which will be implemented in Sombor, will force awareness of the importance of tourism development, said Marko Bajić, advisor for sustainable tourism and development from UNDP.

"We have recognized the potential of this program and we will help as much as possible to develop sustainability at all levels. This project will promote sustainable tourism, development of local communities and small and medium enterprises. The pilot project in Sombor will force awareness of the importance of developing sustainable tourism, it will influence the prevention of migration both inside and outside the country, the development of local tourism and so on," Bajić added.

The "Sail through Serbia" project will greatly contribute to the utilization of Serbia's numerous nautical potentials, it was concluded at the conference.

Images: MGSI