Travel Massive Kosovo Launches!

Travel Massive Kosovo has officially launched in Prishtina and focused their first event on discussing “Revolutionizing Tourism in Kosovo” at Soma Book Station in April.

The turn out was much  larger than expected with people traveling from other cities as far away as Prizren, Peja and Gjakova to show their support for tourism in Kosovo, and learn about the benefits of Travel Massive on a local and global level.

It started with an introduction about the Travel Massive concept and the advantages its community members have through using the online platform and attending networking events. This intorduction was given by Larissa Olenicoff, travel blogger and coordinator for UBT’s Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation.

Alex Crevar, American journalist who has been writing about the Balkans for nearly 20 years for publications such as The New York Times, then took the stage as the guest speaker for the night and came with a clear message: collaboration within the industry is crucial for the greater benefit of tourism in Kosovo.

“We must be totally comfortable suggesting the businesses around us, even if we are competitive. The end goal: Tourists have a good time and tell all the people back home who bring more money for the country.”

For the remainder of the evening, the floor opened up to everyone so they could introduce themselves, the different initiatives they are working on, or just speak their mind on the current state of tourism in Kosovo. Tour guides, app developers, hostel/hotel owners, and mountaineers were just a few of the groups from the industry who were present and with that one thing remained very apparent: Kosovo possesses a strong community of hopeful people passionate about tourism who are interested in doing things. Next step which can hopefully be facilitated through more events like this in the future is getting everyone to work together and collaborate on new initiatives that will ultimately revolutionize tourism in Kosovo.

Travel Massive Kosovo was established on behalf of UBT’s Center for Tourism Economics and Innovation and hopes to serve as a networking and knowledge hub for all stakeholders in the industry interested in working together for the greater good of developing tourism in the country. Our wonderful sponsors for the first event were Soma Book Station, who provided us with snacks and an excellent venue as well as FrutoMania and Birra Peja who ensured there were enough beverages (beer, raki, juice, water) to hydrate entire travel army.

For more information about Travel Massive, check out Larissa’s feature on Ora 7 TV:

Larissa Olenicoff is the Travel Massive Kosovo chapter leader. She is a travel addict, blogger, iPhone photographer, Master of Europe (M.A. European Studies) and Balkan connoisseur. Larissa is currently based in Prishtina trying to revolutionize tourism in Kosovo. To learn more about Larissa, visit her on Travel Massive and The Blonde Gypsy.