Tourism in Serbia


Tourism in Serbia is officially recognised as a primary area for economic and social growth. The hotel and catering sector accounted for approximately 2.2% of GDP in 2015. Tourism in Serbia employs some 75,000 people, about 3% of the country's workforce. In recent years the number of tourists is increasing, especially foreign ones for about hundred thousand arrivals more each year. Major destinations for foreign tourists are Belgrade and Novi Sad, while domestic tourists prefer spas and mountain resorts.

History

Early roots of tourism in Serbia can be traced to the 19th century, with kings and other rulers opening spas and other newly formed tourist spots.
In the 1980s Yugoslavia was an important tourist destination in the Balkans. Overnight stays were almost 12 million per year, of which about 1.5 million were by foreign tourists. The events surrounding the break-up of Yugoslavia led to a substantial decline in both leisure and business tourism.
In the twenty-first century tourism began to recover: the number of overseas visitors was 90% higher in 2004 than it had been in 2000, and revenue from foreign tourism more than tripled between 2002 and 2004, to about 220 million US dollars. By 2010 revenue from international tourism had grown to 798 million US dollars.

Internationally known annual events

Statistics

Arrivals per year

Arrivals by country