The director of TZ HNK, Anđelko Maslać, told Radio Konjic that the entire Herzegovina region has shown strong potential this year and continues to attract more and more visitors each year.

“What sets Herzegovina apart from typical coastal destinations is perhaps the length of the main season, the pleasant weather, the welcoming people, and the good hosts. Year after year, we record steady growth in the number of tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as foreign visitors, who keep coming back because they feel a certain love for the entire Herzegovina region,” said Maslać.

“As for this summer’s peak season, everything is going well, and I believe this might even turn out to be the most successful season in our area in recent times, but we will talk more about that at the very end of the year.”

The statistical data on the number of visits is not yet available.

The problem, Maslać noted, lies in the lack of an integrated visitor registration system.

“I have to say that we are working on establishing that system somehow. In addition to the cantonal one, we now have tourist boards in Mostar, Čitluk, Neum, and Ravno, and three years ago the option to establish tourist boards at the local level was reinstated. Now, we are all trying to set up a unified system that will literally track every movement of tourists, so we know where they come from, how long they stay, and what their preferences are when visiting Herzegovina. Unfortunately, up until now we haven’t really had reliable statistics, since there is also a lot of activity in the ‘gray zone.’ Many people have rented out accommodation without registering their guests in our ‘Prijava.ba’ program, which is now being revived. The data we have is not one hundred percent accurate, but we still need to compile statistics and make use of the information available to us,” said Maslać.

Tourists come to the Herzegovina region from all parts of the world.

The Herzegovina region is a major tourist destination.

“We have three main ‘hotspots’: Mostar, Neum, and Međugorje, but I should also emphasize that our other municipalities and towns, such as Konjic, Čapljina, Jablanica, Stolac, and Ravno, are by no means lagging behind. Their progress is evident as they increasingly invest in tourism and attract visitors. Konjic has established itself as a center for adventure tourism thanks to the Neretva River and surrounding mountains (outdoor tourism); Čapljina is becoming more visited due to the Hutovo Blato Nature Park, the Trebižat River, and Počitelj; Jablanica draws nature and hiking enthusiasts; Stolac is rich in cultural and historical heritage; and Ravno is increasingly showcasing its potential through wine tourism offerings and the unmissable Vjetrenica Cave.”

Road and air connectivity for tourism development

“I believe this is partly due to our improved road connectivity, but ultimately also better air connections, as we know that recently Mostar Airport has been seeing an increasing number of flights and arrivals of foreign visitors. It seems they are projecting over 80,000 arrivals this year, which is quite a significant number; for comparison, just a few years ago they had only a few thousand. I think that the planned, continuous growth in all these segments is gradually contributing to better tourist attendance in our region,” said TZ HNK director Anđelko Maslać.

Tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. The entire Herzegovina region has resources that can be further developed.

“Many of the innovations being introduced in this sector in our region create the possibility that in the coming years, we will be able to compete with European tourist regions,” said Maslać.