Two-day training on “Rural Business Development” was held in Hotel Nar in Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina in a period 3-5 October, 2022. The main goal of the training was to learn how to develop rural tourism products concerning people, structure, tools & processes (organizing of work in rural tourism, safety standards, approach in architecture, responsibility, marketing & branding). A total of 16 participants attended the training and were mostly representatives of MSMEs or small producers who plan to be involved in the tourism industry. The training was conducted by Andja Vukcevic Zoric, SWG Regional coordinator and Andjela Djokic, SWG External Tourism Marketing Expert.
The main topics were:
- Developing touristic products in rural tourism
- People, structure, tools & process (organizing of work in rural tourism, safety standards, approach in architecture, responsibility)
- Sustainable development
- Creating the added values/services in rural tourism
- Rural businesses in the digital channels (Open data, web and social media)
- Customer relationship & PR
- Visual identity & branding
The participants gained knowledge on good examples from the global travel market and how to analyze the current situation in the post-pandemic travel industry. They learned about sustainable development of rural businesses, digital market flow, promotional possibilities, tools and processes in the current market situation and further opportunities.
During the training were presented good showcases from the market. Other than this, participants shared the impressions on how:
- To use trends and a modern market approach when it comes to the global market and digital marketing.
- To analyze all the segments of their business development
- To use valuable tools to promote and develop their business.
The activity is part of the Project: Promotion of Economic Diversification in Rural Areas of South-Eastern Europe (SEDRA II) in SEE – Value chain capacity building on agriculture and rural tourism to promote employment opportunities financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by SWG RRD in partnership with GIZ.
