January 15, 2019 - For the second year in a row, Kotor is among 20 cultural tourism centers the European Best Destination website is proposing as the best for 2019. The competition officially began today and lasts until 5 February. On this occasion, we have spoken to the director of the Tourism Organization of Kotor, Ana Nives Radovic.
"The nomination of Kotor for the best tourist destination in Europe is remarkable since it is a website that is one of the most visited in the world and the most visited sites in Europe when we talk about websites specializing in culture and tourism. For six years it has been the best site in Europe for tourism and promotion. The visibility itself, just mentioning Kotor on it is significant, and any further placement in the coming days of voting will further increase the significance of attendance on this list," says TMN Ana Nives Radovic.
Kotor found itself in the company of famous and well-known European centers such as London, Paris, and Berlin. From our region, along with Kotor, on the list of 20 European destinations is Cavtat in the neighboring Croatia. However, Kotor competed for the best cultural tourism center in Europe and 2018.
"Kotor is the only city in our region that is on this list for the second year consecutively. Cities on this list change very often; very rarely is there one city in succession. However, Kotor has retained this position, so it is obvious that we are a prestigious cultural tourism center," the director of TO Kotor said proudly.
The fact that Kotor has come to the side with large European centers, when we talk about the offer of tourism, emphasizes the fact that in Kotor there is an invaluable cultural treasure that has excellent potential for the development of cultural tourism products.
"It is a goal and purpose, not just the European Best Destination organization, on whose site is the whole promotion, but also the network created by the European Commission, which deals with the public's knowledge of the potential of cultural tourism. Tourism is generally beginning to perceive otherwise. There is a growing interest in cultural tourism, and there is growing interest in destinations where the offer is as intense as possible, as available as possible and as varied as possible. So it is not surprising that Kotor is a part of it, although it cannot compare with the other proposed destinations for many other aspects. The possibilities offered by this placement as well as our presence in tourist facilities around the world justify the fact that Kotor is on such lists. The percentage of the cultural treasure that exists in Kotor and the fact that it is a UNESCO site abolishes every reason why the size of the city is a factor in its nomination," explains Ana Nives Radovic.
"Not only this nomination but also the numerous opportunities that opened in Kotor for the previous years, are conditioned by its uniqueness regarding the experience that tourists have in the destination they are visiting in one day. Kotor as a destination has the fate of tourists visiting the city during one day. It is precisely the visitors who in these competitions are making the final decision whether we justify the status of a destination for which there is so much to see and experience for a short time. From their court will depend on the final placement of Kotor."
The growing market for cultural tourism and the presence of Kotor on various lists of the best destinations in Europe and the world are valuable reasons to take into account the ICOMOS data that every euro invested in cultural heritage when combining this heritage with tourism brings the destination of seven Euros per year. That is the reason that both local and national institutions devote themselves to the preservation and revitalization of cultural heritage in the area of Kotor and Boka Bay.
"This nomination is an additional reason to re-emphasize that as the Kotor Tourism Organization, with the support of other institutions in Kotor, I hope this year will enable ten percent of the revenue of collecting bill fees to be set aside for restoration, conservation, and protection of cultural goods. Practice shows that the world is so, and UNESCO status and all such recognition and nomination oblige us, not only for securing tourism income but above all because of the concern of the city itself that the funds we make through tourism, invest in what allows us such nominations and such visibility," concluded Radovic.
Th European Best Destination for 2019 is chosen by the audience, who can vote for one of the 20 proposed destinations from today, 15 January, until 5 February. The winner will receive the European Best Destination Award 2019. The other cities will achieve promotion during the whole year 2019 to millions of travelers, media and tourism professionals as being among the trendiest destinations to visit in 2019.
European Best Destinations is a European organization based in Brussels and is developed to promote culture and tourism in Europe. Thanks to excellent communication with an audience of e-citizens, European Best Destinations plays an essential role in presenting Europe as the number one destination in the world. It has become a meeting place for tourism offices and world travelers and the main gateway to the discovery of Europe since 2009.
To see the proposed list and vote, go to: https://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/european-best-destinations-2019/
