''I actually had never wanted to leave Mostar, but love led me here'', Nikolina is laughing. ''We always have the wish to go back and spend all our holidays in Mostar with our relatives. This is why we decided to share our love for the region and its beauty with other people and enable the Swiss to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and discover its history and culture.''

This is how the idea to establish a family business by opening a travel agency for thematic trips to Bosnia and Herzegovina was born. It was successfully implemented at the beginning of 2018 and is already flourishing.

''We are mostly focusing on Mostar, Neretva, and Herzegovina, because that is the region we come from, and Sarajevo is, of course, always part of the programme'', explains Pero. ''Our concept is based on smaller and more exclusive groups that are offered the best possible service quality. We do not wish to fill busses and have people traveling in large groups. Of course, if there is such interest, we can organise that too, just as we are currently organising a trip for a Swiss tennis club, the members of which are both adults and children. However, our goal is to work with smaller groups, from 6 to 12 or 15 people, so that the content is determined based on the wishes and interests of the group.'' 

Attractive and non-commercial destinations   

Narenta is organising specific trips to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Adriatic coast, which differ in terms of content, length and level of active engagement. In addition to Sarajevo and Mostar, trips are also organised to Počitelj, Blagaj, Popovo Polje, Trebinje, Konjic and other locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina that offer interesting historical and tourist-related content. Visits to Dubrovnik and Split are also part of specific programmes for tourists wishing to visit the Adriatic coast. A particular discovery for many visitors from Switzerland is Vjetrenica Cave near Ravno in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ''The Swiss were amazed at the beauty and size of the cave and could not understand how come they had not heard of it before and had known only Postojna Cave in Slovenia'', says Pero.

Nikolina believes that a great advantage in their job is the fact that they grew up in Mostar and are very attached to the region, know every place very well and have excellent contacts: ''We do not wish to engage in mass tourism and automatism, but rather tailor everything to the individual characteristics of the group. Some people like history, some like gastronomy, some do not like history at all, some like hiking, some wish to be active during the holidays, whereas others prefer a laid-back vacation. We create our programmes based on their wishes. The travellers therefore feel as an active part of a community, instead of being just a number,'' explains Nikolina.

In Pero's opinion, Bosnia and Herzegovina has great advantages in terms of attractions and destinations in a very small space: ''The sea is there, just as the mountains, forests, karst, lakes, Sarajevo, Mostar. All of them are very close. People, therefore, can have a complete and enriching experience in our country. We have no problems in selecting sufficiently interesting locations and organising the offer. And, more importantly, there is no mass tourism, so that travellers can be alone in places they go to. I truly believe that our idea bears great potential''.

Pero Vego came to Switzerland as a ten-year-old boy in 1993, completed a post-secondary construction engineering school and is employed in the construction sector and real estate sector in Basel: ''I have always thought that I could show the beauty of our country to my Swiss friends and colleagues and was thinking about the way in which I could wake their interest and show them what a wonderful country we have… It still happens that they ask us whether there is still ongoing war in Bosnia and Herzegovina or if Bosnia and Herzegovina is near Greece or Turkey?! So, this is how everything started. The first group for which we organised a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina was from my water polo club. Word of mouth started spreading, and we slowly started receiving inquiries and expanding all the time. Nikolina is the driving force behind everything, and I am supporting her in addition to my main profession. ''

Cooperation with local partners and small households

Nikolina and Pero talk about specific tours along the river Neretva with great enthusiasm. They would like to also include picking tangerines in these tours soon. The fact that they are cooperating with local, non-commercial partners and therefore enabling them to earn an income is important for them. Nikolina gives an example: ''We are cooperating with a small household near Stolac. The family produces its own wine. They have a small vineyard and garden and our travellers can visit the farm, taste the wine and have lunch prepared from home-made food. We therefore do not take the groups to large and well-known commercial wine cellars, where there are numerous tourists on a daily basis. For us it is important that our travellers have an intimate and personal experience of socialising with the locals. It is also important that what we are doing is environmentally friendly.'' 

Of course, it may be expected that the Swill will also be very interested in hiking in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is their favourite leisure activity. In case of travellers with such an interest, Nikolina and Pero are organising hiking tours in the mountains Prenj, Maglić, Čvrsnica or Jahorina. The tours also include a visit to local households, where the tourists can taste uštipci, fried dough balls, with cheese and have a typical lunch – a dish topped with the peka, a bell dome, and cooked in a wood-burning oven or under hot embers in a fireplace. They are also planning to include visits showing the production of brandy – rakija, in these programmes in cooperation with local hosts in Šćit in Ramsko Lake. ''We would like to enable local inhabitants to earn an income and maybe improve their lives a bit'', explains Pero. ''It is a small contribution from our side, at least something that we can do. ''

Why do the Swiss like travelling to Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Tourists from Switzerland, who have visited Bosnia and Herzegovina so far, are very satisfied, say Nikolina and Pero. ''They do not have too high expectations, but they are biased when it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that they are positively surprised once they arrive here! They are all delighted with the food, clean sea, nature, the hospitality of the people, etc. They expect a greater chaos and a less safe country, so that their surprise is indeed a positive one!'' Pero remarks that ''the groups include many persons who visited Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Adriatic when they were children or teenagers, in a time when Yugoslavia was a top-notch tourism brand, and they probably wish to visit the region again and see what it looks like. The groups mostly include more mature persons who are primarily interested in history and understanding historical and current events''.

While developing such a specific travel agency, Mr. and Mrs. Vego also encountered some difficulties, which sometimes hamper the work: ''When we are doing roundtrips, the geographic location of Neum always constitutes a problem due to various certificates and documents needed for border crossing of organised groups, and all this only because of a 20-minute drive, such as the one from Dubrovnik to Trebinje. Sometimes we cross the border two or three times on the same day, in Neum, Metković or Bijača, where it happens that we even have to wait up to two hours. This is certainly something that should be simplified and sped up. The roads should be improved, and I do hope that the Sarajevo-Mostar corridor will be completed soon. The driving distance between these two cities would then only amount to an hour. Sometimes we wait for a long time to get a reply from a hotel or an organisation following our inquiry, but all of these are not insurmountable obstacles at all.'' 

Mr. and Mrs. Vego are very satisfied with the business operations so far: ''I did not expect everything to go so fast and well'', says Nikolina. ''This industry is not comparable to a bakery or hairdresser's, where people need something all the time. This is rather something that people use once or twice per year and it is difficult to even be noticed in the mass of travel agencies. However, we have so far achieved our goals, because it all started from love and the wish to show the beauty of our country. Maybe this will become our main activity in the future''. Pero stresses another positive aspect of their agency: ''This job can maybe give us the possibility to spend more time in Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I see all of this from a positive perspective. We give our best both here and down there! Most of our fellow citizens say that they are neither here nor there, but then again, we have a different perspective and we feel home both here and in Bosnia and Herzegovina!'' 

Their next step is to hire persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who would coordinate activities in the field and invest more in advertising. There are already inquiries for 2019 and Mr. and Mrs. Vego are starting new journeys and tourism adventures in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Link:

www.narenta.ch