Despite the challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic, the Tourist Organization of Gracanica (TOG) is closing this year successfully and with a large number of activities carried out, says the director of this organization, Sandra Djokic.
The Tourist Organization of Gracanica mainly works on the promotion and development of tourism in the municipality of Gracanica, and not on the organization of tourist visits. Analyzing the period from the beginning of the pandemic until today, compared to previous years, the number of visitors is smaller.
TOG director Sandra Djokic says the number of foreign tourists is significantly lower than two years ago.
“Unfortunately, since we are doing a continuous analysis compared to last year, when we were surprised by the situation, the number of visitors has really changed, but it is not to the extent it was a year ago. We have had a large number of visitors over the years and we have had many foreign visitors in our municipality, which is not the case in the last two years. I am not saying that it is not included, but the number of visitors is really much smaller and it has definitely affected the population here”, she said.
The prohibition of gatherings as a result of anti-COVID measures influenced the TOG to adapt to the current situation. Promotions and presentations were redirected on social networks and this kind of contact with the public, tourist representatives and consumers, proved successful.
The Tourist Organization of Gracanica was forced to give up the organization of Tourism Day, which aimed to unite several local and regional organizations to mark this day that serves to promote tourist areas.
“In fact, we wanted to present all our tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the local population. We also wanted, given that in the previous period was marked Tourism Day, to connect our local and tourism organizations from the region, but also other municipalities that have potential for the development of tourism and their cultural assets. We wanted to present all this in Gracanica that day. Unfortunately, the measures (anti-COVID) prevented us, but I hope that next year that event will be held on a larger scale”, says Djokic.
The municipality of Gracanica is rich in cultural monuments, which can make it a destination on the tourist map. Djokic recalls that tangible and intangible heritage represent a great potential.
In addition to the Gracanica Monastery, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the Ulpiana Archaeological Site from the Roman and Early Byzantine periods, there is potential for rural tourism development and new content that may be included in the tourist offer.
“Near our municipality we have great natural resources such as water resources, the lake that five kilometers belong to our municipality and we really have a great potential for the development of some new tourist facilities, but also for the development of fishing tourism. These are untapped potentials due to some legal acts that have not yet been resolved, but exactly here lies a great advantage for the economic development of our municipality,” said Djokic.
The plan for the future of TOG Gracanica is to work on the design of contents in order to enrich the offer for a sustainable development of tourism, which would contribute to increasing the number of tourists, and thus profits in the economic sector.
