Conference in Mostar: Connecting with Avignon, France, for Sustainable Tourism

"Challenges and solutions - Transfer of good practices" is the name of the conference that was held on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, organized by the Tourist Board of the city of Mostar, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of France in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the French Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the City Hall of the city of Mostar.

The conference brought together experts from various fields who discussed the current challenges facing society, the tourism sector and the environment, and exchanged examples of good practice and concrete solutions.

"We want to create guidelines that will help the tourist boards of the city of Mostar in positioning themselves in BiH, for a smart strategy and how to make Mostar a sustainable tourist destination, and I believe that our guests from France will be able to take some good practices from Mostar." Among other things, the focus is on how harmful the CO2 footprint can be when it comes to tourism, so a large number of tourists come, and that certainly harms nature and certainly leaves a mark on the monuments that are visited, which we must take into account," emphasized the director of the Tourist Board of the City of Mostar, Elvira Ćemalović, adding that this conference is just a continuation of the good cooperation that Mostar has with the French Embassy in BiH.

Loé Lagrange, director of the French Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina and advisor for cooperation and culture at the Embassy of France, referred to the similarities between the French city of Avignon and Mostar and the importance of exchanging experiences for mutual benefit.

"As everyone knows, France is a tourist country, and Bosnia and Herzegovina has great potential. Mostar has challenges similar to those of Avignon in France, and that's why we decided to have opportunities to exchange experiences between these two cities. They are small cities that should attract tourists and do everything to ensure that tourism remains sustainable and that tourism does not go against the interests of the residents. There are many similarities between these two cities, the climate is similar, Mediterranean vegetation, cultural and historical heritage, and I think that because of this, a lot can be done together," said the director Lagrange.

Almir Peštek, professor at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, also spoke about the importance of sustainable tourism and shifting the focus of tourism development from economic to social and ecological goals.

"The terrible price increases in tourist destinations are symptoms of the problem we are facing, which is that we are not managing tourism as a system." An increased number of tourists is a good thing for local communities in terms of employment and income generation, but on the other hand, tourism has many negative effects, especially on society and the environment," said Peštek, adding that the time has come to start thinking about tourism as a system and to establish organizations that will lead to long-term satisfaction.

Philippe Bonfiglio, Marc Simelière and Marija Vukoja gave lectures as part of this conference.

After the official part of the conference, the event was symbolically concluded with the planting of an olive tree in the courtyard of the City Hall - as a message of peace, cooperation and sustainability, while the Tourist Board organized the planting of more than 20 saplings in the city of Mostar the day before.