Representatives of Croatian and SLovenian tourist agencies visit this hidden Croatian gem
Neretva valley is attracting more and more tourists every year. It’s tourist offer may still be somewhat shy, but it is improving rapidly, and the representatives of several tourist agencies from Croatia and Slovenia visited the region last week along with the representatives of the private boat owners association in order to add it to their existing programmes for season 2016.
They all agree Neretva has a lot of tourism potential with all its heritage sites, beautiful nature and of course budding agro tourism, but it is still far from where it should be. Alenka Urs from Kompas commented on the reasons why the Neretva valley has been a standard part of their offer for years:
“Each year we bring numerous groups from Slovenia because they adore Neretva and Dalmatia. Many of those groups come each year in time for tangerine harvest, that programme is an absolute hit in our agency”.
But many guests come to the region for its natural, cultural and historic heritage: “Guests also love the two museums Archaeological and Museum of Natural History where they can explore the artefacts from ancient Narona and characteristic flora and fauna of this region. Newly refurbished Museum of Natural History is stunning compared to the old one and it is definitely worth a visit” said Melko Šišina from a tourist agency from Dubrovnik.
Tourism workers in the Neretva valley are working tirelessly on expanding their offer in order to attract more guests “At the moment we can see that our offer is very sporadic and spontaneous and our goal is to combine all existing elements of this region and offer it as a unified product” said Ivica Mioč from a local travel agency in Metković.
Currently, most tourists come to this area on a one day trip, which, along with visits to the museums, also includes a photo safari through the Neretva swamps. Their activities are followed by a lunch or dinner in one of the local agro tourism locations, but with a bit more effort, few good accommodation facilities and a lot of good will, Neretva valley is capable of great things. Knowing how hard working the locals are, we are sure they will succeed in turning this beautiful part of Croatia into yet another tourist gem.
