VALJEVO AS A TOURIST CENTRE by Marina Simic

Location  Valjevo is located in western Serbia on the rivers Kolubara, Gradac, Obnica and Jablanica  It has a favourable position because it is close to Ibar highway and it is only 100km away from Belgrade.  Belgrade-Bar railway passes through Valjevo.

Attractions Valjevo has very beautiful surroundings with a chain of untouched mountains, clean rivers and abundant wildlife. Valjevo also has beautiful villages with swimming pools, churches, and institutions like Petnica research center. It has an old museum in the center of city, which shows events from the first Serbian Uprising and life of citizens in the past. A beautiful park with historical statues is located close to Pecina Park, which is the lungs of Valjevo.

Events  Valjevo organises Tesnjar evenings every year, at the end of August, when a large number of singers and great bands come to present their songs.  Valjevo also organises Jazz festival evenings every Summer.

Facilities Valjevo has a few hotels and the most beautiful is the Grand Hotel, where tourists always come and some of them are regular guests. We have many restaurants which are within or independent of hotels. They serve traditional Serbian food.

Investment Incentives  Five-year tax holiday for investments over Eur  20 milion consumer market  Strategic location for business development  Close to Belgrade airport, Belgrade-Nis motorway and Ibar highway.  Easy access to international markets - Southeast Europe free trade area  Free trade agreement with Russia  Greenfield investment

Recommendations for the Future It will be a good idea to build a park to be used as walking grounds in the Petnica Recreation Center. It would be beneficial for tourism to build good tracks for walking through the countryside. It would also be profitable to introduce a little train for tourists and to build a motel with a playground in the area between the restaurant ‘’Vodenica’’ (watermill) and the Vujic water factory. Another advantageous item would be rationalizing tennis courts to enable building a racecourse as well.