Belgrade – 7th October 2021 – In the beautiful building that houses the Princess Ljubica Residence (Konak Kneginje Ljubice), a promotion and cocktail reception was held celebrating the release of the luxury bilingual edition of Hello! Travel: Cultural Heritage of Serbia magazine.
In cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Serbia, Color Media Communications presented a special issue of Hello! magazine dedicated to the cultural heritage of Serbia titled Hello! Travel: Serbia Cultural Heritage. 204 pages of this luxury bilingual magazine feature the magnificent cultural treasures and sights in Central Serbia, Vojvodina, Kosovo and Metohija, churches, monasteries, mosques, synagogues, castles, palaces, fortresses, towns, villages and our abundant tradition.
The promotion’s host, the director of the Museum of the City of Belgrade, Jelena Medaković, said that it was very important for the museum to connect heritage and tourism in every way possible.
“In this way, we have the opportunity to showcase our efforts and reach the audience and everyone else who wants to get acquainted with our nation’s identity and what they can see and experience in a truly authentic place. The additional value of each tourist arrangement is the authentic space and a piece of our heritage and culture, “said Ms Medaković.
Robert Čoban, president of Color Press Group and publisher of the magazine in the Serbian language, said the following at the event’s opening: “We present to you Hello! Travel: Cultural Heritage of Serbia as a sign that life is coming back and that the tourist economy is experiencing a revival. This is also a topic that we deal with a lot as a company and myself through various campaigns and projects. We think that it is very important to show that the tourist economy is vital and highlight its ability to survive this blow, the biggest since the 1990s civil wars. With this issue, we want to show that tourism continues to live and we would like to invite everyone to visit the destinations we wrote about in the new edition of Hello Travel. When my wife bought a copy of Hello! Travel: Mykonos magazine in 2015, while on holiday in Greece, I came up with the idea to start working together with our partners from Hello! magazine, which we have been publishing since 2007, to launch a similar edition in our region.
We first offered this opportunity to the town of Budva and Hello! Travel: Budva was born, launched in the spring of 2016. Other prestigious tourist destinations in the region – ski resorts in Serbia, Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Montenegro, Zlatibor, Jahorina, Zagreb and Vrnjačka Banja – followed suit and we published ‘Serbia: Active Holidays’ and ‘Montenegro: Mountain Tourism’.
Finally, the 13th edition of Hello! Travel: The Cultural Heritage of Serbia magazine is in front of you.
It is human nature to want to travel and discover new meridians, sights, dishes, wines and civilizations. That is why the tourism industry is so important. The magazine that is in front of you testifies to the rich cultural heritage of Serbia, the Serbian people and other peoples who live with them in this area. You will see a part of that abundance tonight, epitomized in the wedding rituals and costumes of the Slovaks, Šokci, Bačka Serbs and Krajina Serbs. Also, with the help of our friends from NALED and the Ethno Network, you will have the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful designs made by skilled women from Pirot, Stapar and Novi Pazar. I hope you will enjoy today’s promotion and the magazine.”
Žikica Milošević, editor-in-chief of this prestigious magazine, stated the following: “Cultural tourism accounts for 40% of the global tourism industry, which means that 40% of people from around the world visit cultural sites. With this edition, we want to show the abundance of culture in Serbia and to invite people to see the cradle of European civilization – not only foreigners, who are certainly welcome, but also the citizens of our country, because there are many parts of Serbia that they have not visited yet. ”
The director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia, Marija Labović, underlined that culture and tourism were only successful in pairs and could not do without each other.
“First we did Hello! Travel Serbia – Active Vacation and now an issue dedicated to cultural and historical heritage. This is not a coincidence because active vacation and cultural and historical heritage are the central products that we promote as part of our campaigns. Thus, this year as well, under the auspices of the ‘I Choose Serbia’ campaign, our central theme was cultural and historical heritage. We believe that this edition will draw the attention of our citizens to visit the sights that are part of our cultural and historical heritage on their travels. This magazine can also serve as a kind of guide through Serbia, “said Ms Labović.
During the cocktail reception, the guests could participate in interesting activities, like the quiz “How much do you know Serbia’s Cultural Heritage?” Those guests who answered all five questions correctly won a trip for two persons titled “Wine Weekend in Vršac”.
Wedding customs are definitely one of the most beautiful traditional customs of all nations which include decorating the bride and groom. The traditional wedding clothes and the custom of decorating the bride were presented at the promotion. The magazine’s friends from the towns of Bač, Sombor and Selenča presented the abundance of our cultural heritage by displaying what Šokci bride and groom traditionally look like. The Didina Kuća Bač Association presented the bride and groom. The Krajina bride and groom were presented by the MLADOST folk ensemble from Bač, the Slovak newlyweds were presented by the members of the Local Board of the Matica Slovačka from Selenča – Ethno section, while the newlyweds in traditional Bačka wedding outfits were presented by the RAVANGRAD Association from Sombor.
The Ethno-Network Association made sure that the guests got acquainted with traditional handicrafts, as well as carpets from Pirot, Stapar and Novi Pazar.
At the very end of the event, the Museum’s senior curator and art historian, Nataša Popovska, performed a monodrama about Princess Ljubica Obrenović, after which guests could peruse the permanent museum exhibition featuring life in the 19th-century-Belgrade, called “Interior of 19th-century-houses in Belgrade “.
The Princess Ljubica Residence is one of the most important and most representative monuments in Belgrade. It was built from 1829 to 1831 and is one of the very few memorials of the Serbian ruling dynasty Obrenović that is preserved today.
The luxurious bilingual edition of Hello! Travel: Cultural Heritage of Serbia will be on sale as of 8th October, on newsstands across the country. Get to know our beautiful cultural heritage and tradition by perusing through this unique edition.
