Int'l tourism fair opens in Sarajevo

The 41st international fair of tourism, catering and tourism exchange was officially opened in Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH's) capital Sarajevo on Wednesday, featuring outdoor and adventure tourism.

More than 70 exhibitors from BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Turkey are exhibiting at the fair at Skenderija Center, presenting the best touristic offers from their countries.

Director of Skenderija Center and one of the organizers, Amer Kapo, told Xinhua that the international fair has been the festival with the longest tradition of its kind, dating since the 1970s.

Kapo explained that the emphasis is not only put on the tourism, but on the cultural and arts part of the fair as well.

The fair was opened by the minister of economy of Canton Sarajevo Haris Basic. The minister said tourism has a great perspective in Canton Sarajevo, adding that the government of Sarajevo Canton will invest more in tourism.

On the first day of the fair, visitors had the opportunity to try traditional dishes of BiH. More than 150 liters of traditional soup, prepared of tomato puree, meat and noodles, were served to 1,500 visitors, according tot the organizers.

In the first eight months of this year, a total of 1,112,026 tourists visited BiH, which is an 11.5 percent increase year-on-year, the country's Agency for Statistics said in a report in October.

The fair will run until Oct. 25.