Sarajevo favorite among Chinese tourists: statistics

A total of 9,684 tourists from China visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in May this year, compared to 4,610 in the same month last year, the Bureau of Information and Statistics of the Canton of Sarajevo said in a report on Friday.

Chinese tourists spent 10,831 nights in the city in May, compared to 4,858 in May 2018.

In April, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the city was 4,731, and they spent a total of 5,769 nights. The respective figures in April 2018 were 1,552 and 1,734.

The increase is due in part to the agreement on mutual visa exemption between the two countries, which took effect on May 29, 2018.

In May this year, Sarajevo hosted 56,499 tourists, who spent a total of 91,606 nights. Alongside the 9,684 visitors from China, 3,535 Croatians, 3,125 Slovenes, 3,017 U.S. citizens and 2,826 Germans also visited Sarajevo that month. In May, Sarajevo was visited by tourists from more than 60 countries and regions.

According to the report, of the 56,499 visitors, 6,309 were domestic tourists.

In the first five months of this year, the number of tourists in Sarajevo Canton increased by 9.8 percent year-on-year, and the number of overnight stays increased by 10.9 percent year-on-year.

Tourism in BiH is a fast-growing sector and an important part of the country's economy. In recent years, BiH has seen stable growth in the number of foreign tourists.