Could Tourism Elevate The Balkans?

PHOTO: Beautiful Albania offers up pleasant surprises to Balkan tourists. (Photo by Rob Hogeslag, courtesy of Flickr on a Creative Commons license)

To outsiders, the Balkan Peninsula is probably more often thought of as a geopolitical reality than a geographical region. History, ancient and modern, has perpetually squeezed the Balkan peoples between an aggressive line-up of empires including the Byzantines, the Ottomans, the Austro-Hungarians and most recently, the Soviet Union. Who could blame the people of the Balkans, if like the character, Stephen Dedalus, they see history as a nightmare they'd like to awaken from. In this era, when empires at least show a little restraint, the Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia see an opportunity to establish sovereignty. Tourism gives each of these countries a first step at achieving independence.

One of tourism's best benefits is its penchant for lifting countries into the international spotlight, attracting investment and development and giving it a sympathetic expression of its own identity. "A tourism corridor in Southeastern Europe is a key to developing infrastructure," said Drazenko Primorac, the general manager of Medugorje-based AG Travel Medugorje. "The region has wonderful opportunities for soft adventure, walking tours and wine touring. These special interest tourists are ideal for the Balkans because they're always the first wave of tourists."

Before tourism came to Croatia, very few outsiders knew much more about the country then Dubrovnik, which in truth became world-famous due to its bombardment during the siege by the Yugoslav military in 1991. Now a healthy tourism industry has created a detailed international profile of the whole country with places such as Split, Zagreb, 1,244 Adriatic islands and the Istrian Peninsula top of mind with sophisticated travelers almost everywhere.

"Croatia is growing with U.S. travelers," said Boro Aleksic, the president of Dubrovnik-based Elite Travel. "It's such a long way from the U.S. that most American visitors combine Croatia with other countries; usually Italy or Austria." That's usually how long haul destinations begin in the U.S. market. There was a time, not too long ago, when Turkey was an add-on to Greece and Thailand was mostly a two-night component on popular Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok shopping packages. Now those countries are highly successful stand-alone destinations.

From such humble origins, destinations will grow in the U.S. market if they have the goods and Croatia, with its rich agricultural interior and dazzling Adriatic coast, does. The growth of Croatian popularity is spilling over into neighbors. "We are selling the Balkans all around," said Aleksic. "Montenegro is developing on the coast in a big way and it's very close to Dubrovnik. We're selling Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina), Belgrade (Serbia) and Kosovo is beginning to develop."

Montenegro is coming on very strong thanks to an enormous amount of investment on its coast. In 2016 Europe's first One&Only will open in 2016 on Montenegro's Kotor Bay in a former military base. The 110-room five star resort will feature a marina with 250 berths, several luxury villas and apartment properties, as well as a 3,000 square meter spa area and a shopping and restaurant strip with about 70 outlets.

The development began in 2008 when Montenegrin authorities unveiled a comprehensive master plan for Tourism Development that set a long-range strategy through 2020. It called for sustainable infrastructure development on the coast and inland. Banyan Tree has been mentioned as a possible manager for a €300 million hotel on Sveti Marko, the largest island in the Boka Bay.

"We have a lot of new hotels and development and now we are trying to secure budget to reach out to markets like the U.S.," said Danica Ceranic, the deputy director of the National Tourism Organization of Montenegro.

The coast continues further south to Albania, a country with a rich history and precious little development except for the broad four lane Durrës-Pristina highway that crosses the Albanian Alps and makes a connection from Kosovo all the way to Albania's Adriatic coast. Kosovo and Albania share ethnic and religious roots of Illyrian ancestry and the Islam that was brought by Ottoman Turks when they conquered the Balkans.

Tirana and Kruja are Albania's primary attractions. Tirana has some very interesting architecture but still has the sagging look of a post-Soviet city, despite the efforts of Mayor Edi Rama to encourage citizens to paint their homes in the brightest colors.

Kruja, an hour north of Tirana, is a beautiful castle town set high in the mountains where visitors explore the Skenderbeg National Museum, the Ethnological Museum and the Bazaar. Kruja is the birthplace of Albania's national hero, Skenderbeg who held off an Ottoman army from the castle. Albania's southern lowlands are home to many Greco-Roman archeological sites such as Apollonia and Butrint. In fact, the seaside city of Durres, just across the Adriatic from Bari, is built on the ruins of one of the oldest Mediterranean cities and is where Julius Caesar wrestled Roman power from Gaius Pompei in a pivotal battle. The beaches are highly regarded here.

North of the border lies Kosovo, where mosques and monasteries contend with battle fields to claim the country's identity. Though it's been almost 20 years since the Kosovo War ended, tensions continue between Orthodox Christian Serbs and ethnic Albanian Muslims. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Besides the Kosovar capital of Pristina, the best reason to visit Kosovo are its monasteries. In 2004, UNESCO placed the monasteries on their World Heritage List. The monasteries can be found throughout the country. The Vesoki Decani Monastery, for instance, is a Romanesque masterpiece built in 1321 that would look more at home in Provence than in the Balkans.

The mountains of the Balkans present a landscape of deep valleys, hidden villages and monasteries and yet only Croatia, thanks to its dazzling coastline and the beauty of Dubrovnik, have been successful in attracting significant numbers of American tourists. A regional marketing organization could help promote the area and connect tourism stakeholders across the border in a friendlier spirit than the region's political leaders have ever been able to achieve.

"Tourism professionals," said Aleksic, "could show political leaders how to do it."

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