Business and Tourist Forum of Hungary and Serbia was hosted by the Embassy of Serbia in Budapest, on 18 April, in cooperation with the Hungary-Serbia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tourist Agency "Alfa Travel Si", presenting ten tourist destinations in western Serbia.

The Forum was opened by the Serbian Ambassador to Budapest, Rade Drobac, who said that the Embassy had been working, for a longer period of time, on connecting businessmen and tourist professionals from Serbia and Hungary.

"The Embassy wishes to gather, at such events, interested businessmen who have a common interest in cooperation bearing in mind that the political relations between Serbia and Hungary have been exceptionally good in the last few years. The economic cooperation is on a continued ascending line but cooperation in the field of tourism is in the initial phase. During my term of office I noticed that potential Hungarian tourists have poor knowledge of Serbia and rarely spend their holidays in our country. Those that do usually visit their relatives in Vojvodina", the Ambassador said adding that he hoped that successful cooperation in the area of tourism would be established, to the mutual benefit.



Mr. György Terek, Chairman of the Hungary-Serbia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Serbia agreed with what Mr. Ambassador said that the Hungarian citizens and potential tourists did not know Serbia well, noting that this and akin business and tourist forums are very important and beneficial for presenting Serbia.

Miklos Bornemisza, representative of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the two countries must work on the development of tourist cooperation and that Serbian tourism lacks marketing on the Hungarian market.

Mr. Miroslav Radjen, Director of the Tourist Region of Western Serbia, underlined that after Belgrade, this tourist region is the most visited by domestic and foreign tourists.