The participants include local TO representatives and other interested in the development of mapping in Serbia, who will have the possibility of following the lectures via video presentations in several meeting rooms.

The seminar will be held in hotel “Petrus”, in Paracin, April 6th and 7th, 2012.

National Tourism Organisation of Serbia has given financial support by providing tickets for this event, as well as support in promotional material, contributing in this way to the idea that the Danube is not only natural resource of enormous value, but also a direct link with Europe, and as such a unique Pan-European product.

The Art Tour is a modern version of the Grand Tour which provides an opportunity for a direct contact between artworks and passers-by on Belgrade streets. From the 17th until the 20th century, the Grand Tour was part of classical education aimed at learning about other cultures and expanding one’s own views.

Owing to cooperation of the National Museum, the Municipality of Stari grad and Hewlett-Packard and Telenor, under the auspices of Princess Jelisaveta Karađorđević, a collection which has for long not been available to the public will be exhibited. The reproductions have been designed using the latest printing technology in the area of large print formats of Hewlett-Packard which provides an opportunity for highest-quality reproduction of masterpieces.

Night of Museum in the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia, Čika Ljubina 8/I, Belgrade.
May 14 between  6 P.M. and 2 A.M.

“The Danube Adventure” exhibition will take you to an amusing cruise and educate you about the natural, cultural and historical wealth on the Danube in Serbia. The exhibition gives you the opportunity to ride a bicycle on “Eurovelo 6” route which goes from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, to make a traditional breakfast in a country yard and take a photo of yourself as a Roman, a knight, or a lady from the Middle Ages. You will find rest in natural surroundings of a national park, and you can take part in a quiz and win one of many awards which will lead you to the Danube.

Creative team: Nina Trifunović, Dina Vuković, Marijana Markoska, Nina Todorović, Dejan Crnomarković, Kristina Kujundžić, Svetlana Volic and Andrej Vojković.

Partners: Danube Competence Center (DCC) and Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society of Republic of Serbia. Financial support: Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).  Friends:  „Aquastar Danube“ Hotel, Kladovo; Restaurant “Stara Koliba” Belgrade; Sidro Inn, Beška;  „Kod Braše“ Inn, Begeč, Yachting Club „Kej“; Danuvije – ships, Sport Association „Freestyler“; Serbian Association for Recreation and Fitness;  Zdravo Živo d.o.o. and  Singidunum University.

Wizz Air, the largest low fare – low cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe is establishing 13th operating base in Belgrade, Serbia starting in April 2011. Initially the airline will deploy one brand new Airbus A320 aircraft.

Concurrently, Wizz Air will launch five new routes to Belgrade from Brussels Charleroi, Stockholm-Skvasta,  Munich-Memmingen, Gothenburg and  Eindhoven in addition to the already served London, Dortmund, Rome and Malmo.

Tickets are already on sale on wizzair.com with fares starting from as low as EUR 22,49 (one way, all inclusive).

Comprehensive programme will present Serbia’s offer and that of the DCC’s member states: Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine).

Serbia will present itself with the following programme:
1 February -  press conference at the Serbian Embassy in Brussels at which Ms. Gordana Plamenac, CEO/Managing Director of the NTOS and Dejan Veselinov acting director of Tourism Organisation of Belgrade will speak.
2 February – ceremony of dressing up the Manneken Pis, the symbol of Brussels, in Serbian traditional folk costume from Sumadija region. In the evening Serbian National ensemble „Kolo“ and the Dejan Petrovic Big Band (winner of Guca Festival) will perform in the central square – Grand Place.
3 February – at the fair opening, officials of Belgiian Government, Ms. Gordana Plamenac and a representative of DCC will have a speech. After the opening, a cocktail/reception will be organized at the stand of Serbia and the DCC.
On the same day the DCC is organising “The Danube Dialogue Forum” in which representatives of European institutions, the Danube region and Serbia will participate. One of the panelists is Dr. Goran Petkovic, State Secretary for Tourism in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development.
In the evening, organizers will host a reception for officials from Belgium, journalists and other guests, to whom dishes of Serbian cuisine and Serbian wines will be served, with the music of trumpets and „Stup“ Jazz orchestra from Niš.

Interesting programme will await the visitors of the Serbian stand. Serbian National ensemble „Kolo“and „Stup“ Jazz orchestra will perform music program. There will be presentations of traditional crafts: pottery, peasant shoes, flutes, painting pots and naive paintings. The various presentations of tourist destinations in Serbia and DCC members will be held, as well as gastronomy and wine tasting.

Every day of the fair tombola will be organized for visitors, the prize being a long weekend in Serbia.

During the days of the Fair, the week of Serbian cuisine will be held. Chef from „Šešir moj“ restaurant in Belgrade’s bohemian Skadarlija quarter will prepare Serbian specialties at the restaurant L’Altro Mondo. This restaurant is located in the district Libre de l’Ilot Sacré, which is twinned with Skadarlija.

At the stand of Serbia in Brussels the following organisations will present their offer: Tourist Organizations of Belgrade, Vojvodina, Western Serbia, Nis and Cacak, Serbian Ministry of Culture, Camping Association of Serbia, the Association of National Parks of Serbia, as well as tour operators from Serbia Magellan, Panoramic, Serbia 4U, Panacomp , Glob Metropolitan, Time to travel from the Netherlands and the Balkan Traffik from Brussels who have put Serbia in their programs.

During the process of preparation for Serbia’s appearance in Brussels, valuable help was provided by Mr. Radomir Diklic, Serbian Ambassador in Brussels and Srdjan Cvijic, economic adviser. Generous support was also provided by the Ministry of Culture, Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, TO Western Serbia, Zlatiborac, Sirogojno company as well as the tourist organizations of Belgrade, Vojvodina, Nis and Cacak.

Here you can download daily progamme in PDF

National Tourism Organisation of Serbia (NTOS) will in January 2011 through numerous activities present the tourism offer of Serbia at the market in Germany.

NTOS will organize a Roadshow – a presentation of Serbian tourism in several cities for representatives of the
tourism industry in Germany.

In a series of workshops on January 11 in Berlin, January 12 in Dusseldorf and January 13 in Stuttgart, NTOS will present the tourism offer of Serbia. It is expected that about 200 German tour operators will attend these workshops.

NTOS Director Gordana Plamenac will address a press conference on January 10 in Berlin. Serbia will be presented at the Tourism Fair in Stuttgart from January 15 to 23, at which NTOS will have its their own stand for the first time.

The German market is recognized as one of the key markets for the promotion of Serbia. NTOS has for years participated in tourism fairs in Germany, with special attention given to each year’s largest business tourism fair in Berlin.

Website of NTOS won the first prize in the category of non-profit websites. Presentation of tourist offer of Serbia is located at http://www.serbia.travel/ and contains over 1000 pages in Serbian, English, French and Chinese.

Congratulations to our team!

The event “Christmas in Zemun” is organized in the old town, along one of the most beautiful pedestrian street in Belgrade – Gospodska street, where You can find the New Year stalls for souvenirs, Christmas decorations, jewelry, everyday objects of pottery, glass, wood, mosaic and small gifts. Along the street, at the beautiful Square, visitors can taste excellent wine, cakes and specialties from Zemuns bakery, restaurants and fishermen. The event will be followed by good music and street performers.

The exibition of art objects, gifts and souvenirs is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, starting from 18^th of December.
The best attraction for tourists are beautifully decorated store windows and counters, as the Municipality of Zemun  will award the”Best Christmas showcase 2011″ and “The Greatest New Year’s counter.

www.hobby-art.rs

In October Belgrade Jazz Festival that lasted for 4 days had one of its best editions so far. Lots of people have visited this festival with great programme and had the chance to listen really famous performers such as Wayne Shorter Quartet (USA), Charlie Haden Quartet West (USA), Orchestre National De Jazz: „Around Robert Wyatt“ (France), Alice Russell (UK)… Around 10.000 people visited the Festival this year.

In November Serbia will have two more Jazz Festivals:

Pancevo Jazz Festival will take place on 5 and 6 November. Performers like Blue Lotus (Denmark), Hubert Tubbs & Sweet (USA), Roy Hargrove Quintet (USA) will perform for people from Pancevo and surroundings.

Pancevo Jazz Festival was introduced in 1998, and since then it has maintained a high standard when it comes to performances of the most respected jazz artists on the local scene, and renowned world class jazz musicians. The chance to perform at the festival is also being given to the musicians who started their careers in Pancevo, a town which for decades has its own jazz audience and performers.

The second one, Novi Sad Jazz Festival will be held at the Serbian National Theatre from 18 to 20 November. Audience will have the chance to see performers like David Friedman Tambour Trio (Germany), Wallace Roney Group (USA), Scott Hamilton Quartet (USA), Abraham Burton/Eric McPherson Quartet (USA), Chris Potter Underground (USA), Giovanni Guidi Quartet (Italy), Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band…

Novi Sad Jazz Festival was founded in 1999 under the auspices of the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad establishing right away its international character. The main concert program includes performances of musicians and ensembles from all over the world. The uniqueness of the Novi Sad Festival lies in its desire to cherish authorial and jazz music of the highest quality, both by our contemporaries and world renowned authors. Beside concerts, the festival consists of workshops and exhibitions.

The theme this year is “New Technologies and Emerging Markets”. The rise of New Technologies such as mobile and geo-location services present exciting opportunities for Destination Marketing Organisations and NTOs. This week in Belgrade, marketing experts from across the industry will meet to discuss how to take advantage of these opportunities with a particular focus on how they can be used in emerging markets such as Brazil, India and China.

The conference is ETC’s annual e-Business Academy, the only event of its kind to be organised specifically for NTOs, opening for the first time this year to their regional and city partners. It has become an important date in ETC’s calendar, giving delegates a valuable forum in which they can share practical experience and professional insights. The Academy is organised by one of ETC’s strategic advisory groups, the Marketing and Technology Network (MTN).

Andrew Daines, chairman of the MTN, says: “The value of the Academy is now widely recognised, not only by marketing and technology professionals from NTOs throughout Europe, but also by the event’s commercial sponsors – and I’m particularly pleased that Wilken will be supporting the Academy for the fifth successive year, and that a new company, GeoGuides, will be the premium sponsor at our event.”

This year’s Academy, marking the tenth anniversary, is attracting an impressive line-up of speakers, with Amy Scarth from Informed Tourism, Cees Bosselaar of PhocuWright, Jean-Marie Hullot CEO and founder of Fotopedia and Martin Schöbert from Tourismusdesign and Marvin Liao, Yahoo!.

There will also be presentations from the event’s six commercial sponsors: GeoGuides, MovieAsset, New Vision (sponsoring us for the second successive year), SDL, Trip Advisor (sponsoring us for the second successive year) and Wilken. All companies are leaders in their field, offering services of direct relevance and value to the online marketing programmes run by NTOs.

The European Travel Commission is an international, non-profit making organization, with its headquarters in Brussels. Its members are the 39 national tourism organisations of Europe, whose role is to market and promote tourism to Europe in general, and to their individual countries in particular. The President of the ETC is from Germany, and besides Serbia the deputies are also from Belgium and Switzerland.

National Tourism Organisation of Serbia officially became a member of the ETC in Malta on 3 September 2006. Membership of the NTOS in the ETC together with other European countries opens the possibility for better marketing promotion, not only in Europe but also in other continents.

Selection of the representative of Serbia as one of the ETC’s Vice Presidents is a result of previous efforts of the NTOS and Gordana Plamenac personally in the activities of this organization.

The National Tourism Organisation of Serbia held a traditional ceremony for the “Tourist Flower” Award on 27 September – the World Tourism Day. The prize is being awarded to organizations and individuals for improvement of the quality of services and promotion of Serbian tourism. It was the fourteenth time that the Award has been given, this year in 14 categories.

Theme of this year’s World Tourism Day is “Tourism and Biodiversity”. National Tourism Organisation of Serbia earlier this year printed a brochure, “Nature of Serbia”, which shows rare plant and animal species, some of which represent an exquisite national treasure.

The following officials addressed at the ceremony:

· Mrs. Gordana Plamenac, CEO/Managing Director of the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia

· Mr. Zoltán Somogyi, Executive Director for Member Relations and Services at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

· Mr. Goran Petković, State Secretary for tourism in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development

· Mr. Ivica Radović, State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning

Winners of the “Tourist Flower” Award for the period from July 2009 to July 2010:

1. Category – Tourist Organisation

TOURIST ORGANISATION OF ZLATIBOR

2. Category – Special events in promotion of tourism (events, fair, conference, exhibition)

“VELIKOGOSPOJINSKI DANI”

3. Category – Accommodation Facility

HOTEL “ZLATIBOR MONA”

4. Category – Catering facility for providing food and drink

“RAKIA BAR” BELGRADE

5. Category – Rural tourist household

“RAJSKI KONACI”, LEUŠIĆI VILLAGE

6. Category – Vine cellar

The prize hasn’t been awarded this year

7. Category – Tourist agency

„GLOB METROPOLITEN TOURS“

8. Category – Representation of Serbia as a tourist destination, through electronic and printed media (film, publication, website, Internet page, TV show, a report or magazine)

ASSOCIATION “RURAL TOURISM SERBIA” FOR THE PROJECT SELO.RS

9. Category – Small value souvenir

ZVONČIĆI – FIGURINES IN NATIONAL COSTUME (LALA AND SOSA, SRBIJANAC)

10. Category – Big value souvenir

DOILY PATTERN FROM THE PIROT RUG, CALLED “SOVRA”

11. Category – Innovation in tourism

BELGRADE GREETERS

12. Category – Tidiness of the tourist complex

· SPECIAL NATURE RESERVE “ZASAVICA”

· MUNICIPALITY OF SURČIN

13. Category – Tourist guide

The prize hasn’t been awarded this year

14. Category – organization or an individual for contribution to the advancement of tourism of the Republic of Serbia

DEJAN VESELINOV

National Tourism Organisation of Serbia awarded this year two special “Tourist Flowers“ outside of competition:

· ĐERDAP NATIONAL PARK

· “BIG CLEANING OF SERBIA” CAMPAIGN

Friday 10.09.2010.

10:00-12:00   Mamut Art, creative workshop for preschool children

12:00-13:00   What is scientific literacy? PhD Sofija Stefanović, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, lecture for teachers

13:00-15:00   Jurassic quiz , competition for primary school children

17:00-18:00   Quiz final, final competition of best school tims

18:00-19:00   Opening ceremony of Mamutfest 2010:

Welcoming speech of the organizors, sponsors, participants and special guests of the festival

Exibition openings:

Art and recycling, 27th Children May Salon, National museum Čačak

Archaeologist as a detective, Museum of Vojvodina

Darvin now, British Council

Music programme:

Song for Kika, concert of childrens choir „Čuperak“

19:00-20:00   Life on a desert island, interactive performance for children

Saturday 11.09.2010.

10:00-13:00  Thousand and one greeting card for Kika, decoration of town square

Animal Kingdom – childrens market-place

Archaeology for beginners, educational workshop, Laboratory for bioarchaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

13:00-15:00   Clown Smehuljko, animation program (balloon animals,

magic tricks …)

15:00-17:00   Sustainable art, creative workshop of EkoFON from Belgrade

Eco Robots, presentation of the symbols of Delta City (Green city)

Calligraphy and arranging, creative workshops of Drvo art, High School in Belgrade

16:00-18:00   Forensic experts in action, educational workshop, Criminal department of Police station in Novi Sad

17:00-19:00   Exciting evolution, an educational program in the exhibition Darwin now

19:00-20:00   Disney arias, songs from the most beautiful cartoons, Theatre Džep,

Novi Sad

Following programme:

Mammoth crossword puzzle, enigma of Kikinda mammoth

Mammoth adventure, a new social game designed for future researchers and prehistoric animals fans

In the company of kites, presentation of macking paper dragons and kiteflying,

Aero Club Kikinda

Discover the secret half a million years old – 3D movie about Kikinda mammoth

Kladovo

In order to raise awareness about the need for protection of natural resources, NTO Serbia has conducted a campaign called “Active for the Danube” which shows the Danube as it is today – unfortunately dirty, but we have also shown how we would like to see it in the future, engaging at the same time in the action “Big cleaning of Serbia”. Through this campaign we wanted to send a good message not only about the need for awareness, but also about concrete actions concerning the conservation of our natural beauties, especially emphasizing the importance of water, i.e. the Danube River, its tributaries and other rivers, as an important resource in many segments.

In the cities along the Danube banners have been set up that accompany this activity, showing images of clean and dirty Danube, seen through the eyes of various photographers, and decorative paper fans have been made with the Danube motives and messages towards the preservation of this natural treasure.

INFANT (Cultural Centre of Novi Sad and theatrical spaces in Novi Sad, 25^th June – 03^rd July)
ORGANIZER: Cultural Centre of Novi Sad

International Festival of Alternative and New Theatre – INFANT became the meeting point of artists who perceive the theater in a new and different way. This is the only festival of its kind in the country, authentic and highly respected in other European countries among artists and critics who follow the latest trends in the stage production.

DAYS OF THE DANUBE – LIVING WITH THE DANUBE (Sunčani kej, Novi Sad, 25^th – 30^th June)
ORGANIZER: Epicenter

This exhibition-like event aims to emphasize the significance that the Danube River has for different segments of social life and economic development of the city and the region.
The festival includes a series of program activities starting from exhibition, cultural and sports as well as the civic, entertainment, musical and educational. The main bearers of the content and participants are the citizens of Novi Sad, and their guests from other cities, in particular the ones on the Danube.
An important part of this event will be the economic program focused on the development of tourism and business potential of the Danube. The Danube as an important transport route, tourist destination, a place of various recreational contents, hospitality facilities and cultural contents, holds currently the greatest potential for economic development of Novi Sad and connection with Europe.

DANUBE DAY – IX FESTIVAL OF TAMBOURITZA ORCHESTRAS ” PERICA MIRKOVIĆ” (Begeč, 26^th June)
ORGANIZER: Cultural Center “Begeč”

The tambouritza orchestras from Vojvodina take part in the Festival. With the authentic tambouritza performance they contribute to preserving the traditional tambouritza sound in the region.

NOVI SAD – The Life in Easy Rhythm

Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, is city of nearly half a million inhabitants and is the second largest city in Serbia. Novi Sad is 75km north of Belgrade, which is a one-hour drive on highway E 75. Known as Serbia’s Athens, the city is also accessible via boat along the Danube or by train.

Though Novi Sad is a vital economic and administrative center, life is specifically relaxed here. Unlike most metropolises in Europe, the pace here is slow and stress free. This relaxed atmosphere gives the city an intimate, elegant feel. Read more about Novi Sad and nearest tourist deastinations

Two Dutch artists and a dog undertake at this moment a very special endeavour; musician Tjerk Ridder, writer Peter Bijl and dog Dachs hitchhike this year from Utrecht, Holland to Istanbul, Turkey. With a caravan, without a car!

Standing besides the road with a cardboard ‘Auto Kuka?’ they want to manifest that you need others to keep you going. Forty drivers in eight weeks took them from Holland to Serbia. Right now they are in Belgrade. The upcoming weeks, Tjerk and Peter will be heading to Istanbul., where they hope to arrive at July 1^st.

Symbolic journey

With this symbolic journey, Tjerk and Peter want to show that every one needs others to come further. While the drivers take them and their caravan further on their journey,  Tjerk and Peter help out their chauffeurs by inspiring and coaching them to live their dreams. Tjerk and Peter report on their trip in daily blogs and visual publications on their website www..caravanproject.eu as well as on social media (twitter, facebook, youtube),. For musician Tjerk Ridder the journey is the source of inspiration for a music album and a theatre programme.

International success

The Caravan Hitchhiking Project got lots of media attention with, until now, national television items in six countries. German national television followed them the last few days in their search for ‘kuka’ from Novi Sad to Belgrade. Two Serbian truckers gave them and their caravan eventually a ride to Belgrade.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia suggested that the citizens of the EU countries, as well as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, should be enabled to enter Serbia with valid ID cards and to stay up to 90 days.

Serbia team had more than 180 appointments made during the 3 day show, and it is noticed that quality of the buyers has been improved. Serbia is looking forward to IMEX 2011.

The representatives of local tourism organizations, tourism industry, hoteliers, and receptive tourism agencies actively participated at the Forum.

During the forum, cleaning action of the National Park Kopaonik was organized, so workers in tourism joined the action of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning for a cleaner and greener Serbia.

The organizers of the Forum were the National Tourist Organization of Serbia, in cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Raška and the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Sector for Tourism.

The aim of the exhibition is the presentation of tourist potential of Timisoara, as a multicultural and modern destination that has preserved the memory of the past, a fascinating history and cultural heritage.

The Belgrade exhibition follows the exhibition, organized in Timisoara last year, and which presented the tourist potentials of Serbia and promoted brochure “52 Weekends in Serbia” in Romanian language.

Organizer of the exhibition “Visit Timisoara” is the National Tourist Organization of Serbia, in cooperation with the General Consulate of Serbia in Timisoara and Municipality of the city of Timisoara.