This year’s first river cruise ship arrives in the Vukovar port.
This year’s first river cruise ship with tourists navigating the Danube River arrived in Vukovar. The tourists were welcomed by representatives of the town authorities, which put up several stands which offered local products, souvenirs, wine and food, reports Večernji List on March 26, 2017.
“This year, 186 cruise ships will dock at Vukovar, which is slightly less than last year’s 221 ships. The reason for the smaller number of cruise ships is the decision of one of the shipping companies to discontinue its services here”, said the head of the Tourism Department in Vukovar town administration Marina Sekulić. Last year, about 28,000 tourists arrived in Vukovar on cruise ships, mostly Americans (around 50 percent). Germans also had a significant share (about 30 percent).
“It is very important for us that tourists from cruiser ships visit the town itself to learn about its history and landmarks, because that represents an opportunity to promote the town through the word of mouth. We want to leave a good impression that tourists will tell about to their friends, because Vukovar really has much to show to tourists”, said Sekulić.
Commenting on the fact that tourists from cruise ships often immediately board buses and leave for the Baranja region north of Vukovar, Sekulić reiterated that their goal was to keep them in Vukovar and show them the town landmarks. “Even when Vukovar itself is included in the programme of the visit, tourists from cruise ships usually visit just the baroque town core and the Vukovar Town Museum. We believe that this year the programmes will also include the Museum of the Vučedol Culture. If not, we will certainly offer an optional visit to the museum in a tourist train”, said Sekulić.
Director of the Vukovar Tourist Board Jasna Babić explained that tourists from cruise ships started visiting Vukovar in 2001 and are coming in ever increasing numbers. At the same time, various activities have been carried out in recent years to give them a reason to stay longer in Vukovar.
“As far as outings to Baranja are concerned, as opposed to staying in Vukovar, we like to boast that we are a town and have an urban feel, while many guests on the other hand want to enjoy rural landscape. I do not want to say that these two things are mutually incompatible, but we need to find the right balance so that everyone is happy”, concluded Babić.
