The law on tourism is expected to go to the Government of Kosovo next week for approval. This was announced by the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Rozeta Hajdari,  while speaking at the 29th convention of the General Assembly of the Alliance of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA). She said that the draft has been finalized and everything has been done in coordination with the relevant stakeholders. Hajdari: The law on tourism is in the final draft "I want to inform you that together with the Tourism Union of Kosovo with which we have cooperation and a memorandum of understanding, we are also developing the tourism policy and the law on tourism that is in the final draft, we are waiting for the comments, and to be proceeded next for approval in the government because it has been finalized by us. Mr. Hoti together with other tourism actors has brought many inputs. I always rely on evidence-based policies because evidence is what brings the best policies, so I do not push anything to the government for approval without consulting all relevant stakeholders, and in this case journalism, communication has a lot of place where it can be an additional value to our policy-making," she said. She has announced that in the grants for entrepreneurship and innovation are also promoting the tourism industry. Hajdari: Digitalization will help us in the development of tourism "In the grants for entrepreneurship, innovation, we are also promoting the tourism industry because it is a potential that Kosovo has not used so far and should use it, maybe in the future we will connect it with digitalization because we are in the 21st century and digitalization will to help us in the development of tourism ", she added. In the proceedings of the 29th Convention of the General Assembly of the Alliance of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA), which this year is being held in Pristina under the organization of KosovaPress News Agency, the importance of presenting tourism through the media and possibilities for cooperation between public tourism institutions and the media. Argentina Grazhdani, director of Swisscontact, which deals with the promotion of tourism, said that Kosovo has a very good culture and environment which could be presented and find space in the local media. Grazhdani: Media an important factor for tourism "World tourism has identified the media as something very factorial, as a new emergency destination, why is this important, because after COVID we have to think about a sustainable tourism where the community can benefit. Because more and more people are looking for possibilities how they can benefit from tourism experiences, how they can function, we know that tourism is also important for women, the participation of women in this attraction is more than 40%, women who have not been active in the labor market but use the traditional things they have done for tourism," she said. According to her, there are many stories that have not been heard and are related to tourism. Grazhdani: Media are focused on political topics, there is a lack of other topics "What are we seeing in the media, your job is to inform the public, to tell the truth in a professional way, but what are we seeing, we have many different reactions and the whole media is focused on political agendas, which is of equal importance, but there is a lack of other important topics of the country, what is happening in the movement of people, in people's lives. When we analyze the tourism network, what are the segments we are interested to tackle, and after COVID each country will focus on the region", she added. Baki Hoti from the Tourism Union of Kosovo stressed the importance of tourism for the development of a country, especially for employment. Hoti: No government has so far given priority to tourism "Tourism is an industry that connects many actors, tourism is not only part of the hotel, travel agencies, guides, but many other things are connected and it is a chain, everything moves with tourism, when we have movement of people, it is considered an element of tourism. As far as Kosovo is concerned, unfortunately no government has so far given priority to tourism and this has influenced it not to develop to the extent it should. Despite the fact that Kosovo has no sea but has 12 months of tourism, has extremely attractive places, has a very rich culture and tradition, a hospitality that can rarely be found in countries around the world, fantastic traditional food and all these make a very important element of the potential for the development of tourism in Kosovo ", said Hoti. Hoti said that the period with the pandemic has negatively affected this sector, which has forced the private sector to come together and seek awareness from the government in order to support this sector, which was damaged during the spread of COVID-19. Hoti: We are in the process of tourism strategy "We have completed the law on tourism, we are in the process of tourism strategy and we have started the part of the brand and slogan of tourism, are three basic elements for a healthy development of the sector, this is letting us know that something is moving forward, Kosovo deserves to have a greater development of tourism, to have greater support from institutions," he said. He stressed that the role of the media is extremely important in promoting a country's tourism. "Media and News Agencies in the Post-Covid era" is the topic that marks this year's ABNA assembly, which is held in Kosovo under the organization of the KosovaPress News Agency. The agencies of the 12 Balkan countries are staying in Kosovo, where they will discuss the pandemic and the impact it has had on the work of the media. Their reception took place yesterday at an event at the Museum of Kosovo, where the participants were closely acquainted with the history of the country. KosovaPress is part of ABNA since 2017, while the goal remains membership in the European Alliance of News Agencies - EANA. The 29th ABNA General Assembly and Conference is supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC.