national workshop on issues and prospects for the successful … report.pdf · 2020. 4. 29. · •...

With the contribution of: Uz doprinos:

FAO-EBRD project- Montenegro: Promoting Sustainable Agrifood Value Chains through Linkages with Tourism

National workshop on issues and prospects for

the successful linkage of local gastronomy and

rural tourism

April 18, 2019

Centreville Hotel, Podgorica


Contents

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Objectives of the workshop ............................................................................................................ 3

Attendance ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Elements discussed ......................................................................................................................... 4

Opening ....................................................................................................................................... 4

Recent developments in support of rural tourism ..................................................................... 5

Panel presentations and discussion on best practices in rural tourism from an international perspective .................................................................................................................................. 5

Ms Doris Fertl shared the experience of Urlaub am Bauernhof in Lower Austria. ................ 6

Ms Renata Kosi, Expert for tourism on farms from the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, Agriculture and Forestry Institute Celje .............................................................. 7

Mr Robert Bacac, Founder of Ruralis in Croatia and expert in rural tourism standards ....... 8

Michele Rumiz, Slow Food International .............................................................................. 10

Recent developments in support of local gastronomy ............................................................. 11

Panel presentations and discussion on making the connection: current initiatives and future synergies to link local food and tourism in Montenegro .......................................................... 12

Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 13

Annexes ......................................................................................................................................... 15

Agenda ...................................................................................................................................... 15

PHOTOS ..................................................................................................................................... 16

List of participants ..................................................................................................................... 20


Background Under the EBRD/FAO cooperation, the project “Montenegro: Promoting sustainable agrifood value chains through linkages with tourism” has been designed to enhance food producers’ market connection with tourism and HORECA markets, building lessons learned from other EBRD-FAO projects related to promotion of sustainable value chains. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with the support of the Regional Development Agency for Bjelasica, Komovi and Prokletije. With the adoption of the Programme for the Development of Rural Tourism until 2021, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture are seeking to create conditions for the development of rural tourism in Montenegro, a relatively new segment of the overall tourism offer that has strong ties to small-scale agricultural production and processing. Additionally, the new support measures in the 2019 Agrobudget have concretely linked traditional food production to tourism and rural development, and demonstrate the commitment to support small-scale producers. Gastronomy and traditional food products play a major role in promoting a country’s national identity and culture, and has become an aspect of increasing importance in the quality of the tourist experience. Having an untapped local gastronomic culture and traditional food production that uses local resources in sustainable and practical ways, Montenegrin smallholders can exploit the high growth potential from linking the agriculture and tourism sectors through two avenues: rural hospitality activities and high-quality foods specific to Montenegro placed in hotels and restaurants. In this perspective, agrifood producers willing to engage in activities related to tourism and gastronomy have just established the Rural Tourism Association (RTA) to facilitate such development.

Objectives of the workshop In the frame of the series of workshops aiming at building a roadmap to link agriculture to tourism, the

main objective of this third workshop is to address the issues and prospects in linking the sectors from the

rural tourism and gastronomy perspective. The specific objectives are to:

Provide a clear picture of the issues and existing solutions, highlighting what remains to be done

in the context of implementing the Rural Tourism Programme to 2021.

Transfer knowledge to Montenegrin public authorities using successful experiences in EU

countries with a similar context and the experience of Slow Food International

Identify the activities to be included in the roadmap that can link agriculture and tourism and how these can be supported and promoted by the different sector stakeholders.

Attendance There were 86 participants in this event, and they came from various sectors relevant for this topic:


Representatives of ministries in charge of agriculture and food, tourism

International experience from relevant countries

Rural Tourism Association and relevant member households

Local institutions involved in the topic (municipalities, rural tourism working group, local tourism

organizations)

NGOs, rural development practitioners

Travel agencies, hotels and restaurants

The complete list of attendees is in Annex of this report.

Elements presented and discussed Presentations available at EastAgri webpage: http://www.eastagri.org/projectcorner/index.php?id=139

Opening

The workshop was opened by:

• Mr Ćazim Hodžić, Director General of the Directorate for Development of Tourist Destination and

Tourist Infrastructure, Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development (MTSD)

• Mr Enis Gjokaj, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)

• Mr Jaap Sprey, Head of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Resident

Office, EBRD

• Ms Emilie Vandecandelaere, Agribusiness Economist and Project Coordinator, Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

All the opening remarks stressed the importance of local food playing the central role in national tourism

offer, and rural tourism as specific sector where local food has its most important sales opportunity.

Building on the findings from previous workshops and activities from the project, it was recognized the

important steps taken in Montenegro, in particular with the programme on rural development and the

recently launched strategy of rural tourism, while producers are organizing themselves with the recently

established association of rural tourism. The previous workshops in November 2018, on katun and then

on linking small-holders to tourism market, have provided important contributions, first for the drafting

of the new law on tourism, recently adopted, and for the strategy in rural tourism, while registration of

producers for their production/marketing/tourism activities has been enhanced. In promoting rural

tourism as way to support rural development and sustainable tourism, it was also highlighted the

importance of benefiting from the experience from neighboring countries, welcoming the guests from

Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy.

http://www.eastagri.org/projectcorner/index.php?id=139


Recent developments in support of rural tourism Moderator: Ben Toric, Value chain expert, FAO

The first segment of the workshop covered recent developments in support of rural tourism. Mr Nikola Ilic from the Ministry of Tourism presented the newly adopted Rural Tourism Programme to 2021 which is in the process of being implemented. Many of the constraints identified in the gap review of the project have been addressed, and there are many synergies between the measures of the programme and the objectives of the Rural Tourism Association such as a registration system, signalization, quality standards and realistic technical requirements (see below). Gastronomy takes a leading role in many of the measures, especially in 1.1.5, “Introduction of a regionally and locally specific element of the offer”.

Ms Milena Kotlica from the Ministry of Agriculture introduced the new measures to support diversification through rural tourism, especially some of the issues that were addressed in Katun workshop (see report of the national workshop on Katun). Most relevant are the MIDAS II grant measures and IPARD II measures to support diversification of farms and business development. This includes support for rural tourism and food processing As part of the EUR 1 million budgeted for this, MIDAS II addresses Katun support for adaptation, water supply, and photovoltaic systems (50% of the investment/ 1500 EUR per farm). Mountain registered farms are also eligible for investment support for construction, reconstruction, renovation or equipping of facilities for the provision of accommodation services, facilities for the preparation of food and drinks, and a serving of food and drinks within the holding, and improving the exterior of the farm (area for horseback riding, bike paths, facilities for sport recreation, playgrounds, etc.)

The Rural Tourism Association was introduced for the first time since their first Assembly in March of 2019 for their establishment. It was an exciting occasion to hear the current elected President Mr Vucko Pesic present the Association to the public. The association was a locally driven, national grassroots effort based on the Austrian experience (see study tour report) to work on issues together such as joint promotion, work on the removal of barriers, the harmonization of standards and support for new households. There are currently 40 members of the Association and new members will be join at the next meeting of the board. Members of the association come from all parts of Montenegro, and all are primarily agricultural producers. The association is also encouraging the registration of rural tourism households by giving a deadline of 6 months to register or leave the association, unless of course the household is dealing with legislative and administrative obstacles.

Panel presentations and discussion on best practices in rural tourism from an international perspective Moderator: Jelena Krivcevic, Director, Regional Development Agency for Bjelasica, Komovi and Prokletije


Ms Doris Fertl shared the experience of Urlaub am Bauernhof in Lower Austria.

In operation for over 25 years, Urlaub am Bauernhof / Holidays on the Farm is an association of agritourism providers that markets quality controlled, authentic farm stays throughout Austria. The association is active as "ambassadors of the rural world" and support the foothold of rural tourism alongside agriculture. They offer online booking https://www.farmholidays.com/, catalogues, newsletters and a system of quality assurance for consumers, and branded marketing materials, technical support for agritourism providers—all carried out in a sleek, professional and informative way. They offer many types of holidays to fit many visitor profiles, including those geared towards food and wine, holidays with children, couple holidays and active holidays.

The group is a private non-profit organization that runs with the partial support (50%) of the Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth and the Ministry of Agriculture, and that of its member farms. The basic fees are 35 EUR per bed, plus supplement for feature in other brochures. In 2014, the total income of the association is about 1.25 million Euros, of which 842,000 Euro is spent on marketing and promotions. The gross income of the farms from the project is around 1 to 1.2 billion. The well-organized structure of organisations and partners has led to development of rural tourism in Austria. There are 2260 members of Holidays on the Farm, in Austria with 27700 guest beds at this moment and it is constantly growing. Since 1991, prices have increased, as well as occupancy rate and turnover. The success of the project is considered largely to be because of the available funding and project model. It regularly publishes performance reports with statistics on how bed occupancy is changing in member farms; the increase has been by 20% in 20 years. Changing prices are also published, with prices up by 120% at double the inflation rate over that time.

70% of all tourism businesses in Austria are private, which means they provide less than 10 beds. These types of accommodation can be found mostly in mountainous regions with less intensive agriculture of Austria which is similar to Montenegro and its small producers.

When it comes to legal types of rental, there are Commercial room rental/Hotel, rental and leasing and private room rental. The last one is particularly interesting for Montenegrin type of rural households. There can only be up to 10 beds, at the actual place of residence. All services must be provided by the members of the household. There is no license requirement for this type of service, but a hygiene and allergen training proof is needed, the taxes and social insurance should be paid and to be registered.

Challenges that go with this sector are big. Hosts are not professionals and lack time and/or money. They lack knowledge about marketing or are completely unaware about the potential. There is also a digital gap between the hosts and the guests. One of the biggest challenges are the current trends and legal restrictions because of the spatial planning law and building regulations.

https://www.farmholidays.com/


The services of the Holidays on the Farm play a vital role for a successful development strategy, especially in Common Brand Management, Quality Management, providing training and consulting, Common Marketing, providing access to the digital market, linking tourism and agriculture and lobbying to adapt legal regulations to current market demands. The guests demand 'unusual' accommodation, and there is such category in Austrian regulations, katuns seem to be something that would fit in this category.

Ms Renata Kosi, Expert for tourism on farms from the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, Agriculture and Forestry Institute Celje

Ms Renata Kosi presented on the Association of Tourist Farms of Slovenia, https://www.farmtourism.si/ . It is organized as an association, non-profit NGO and was established in 1997. There are 400 members having tourist activities on farms (2.054 beds, 11.600 seats) throughout Slovenia, and the national association has the managing board with 13 members and the President. The strategic objectives are to improve the quality of the offer of tourist farms, higher occupancy rates, more daily guests on excursion farms, wine cellars, making a positive image of the countryside in the public, to preserve jobs on farms, to contribute to maintaining the density of population and cultural heritage in the rural areas. As far as management and cooperation is concerned, professional assistance for all the activities of the Association - two persons in total, is provided by the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia on the Agriculture and Forestry Institute in Celje. The cooperation with following institutions is vital- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia (www.gov.si/mkgp) Ministry of Economy ( www.mg-rs.si ) Slovenian Tourist Board (http://www.slovenia.info) Tourist Association of Slovenia (www.rr-vel.si/tzs/). Activities of the Association

Marketing communication activities

Quality Grading / Classification Scheme

Is obligatory for all the accommodations in Slovenia

Is regulated and controlled by the state (every five years)

The quality of accommodation and service on tourist farms (rooms, apartments): one to four apples

Adequate minimum education, hygiene standards for production of food, classification

Supplementary activity on the farm

Max 30 beds; max 60 seats

Income gained from supplementary activities on each farm should not exceed 3 average yearly earnings per person in paid employment in the Republic of Slovenia (58.570,00 EUR per farm ).

In less favoured areas for agricultural production income should not exceed 5 average yearly earnings (97.617,00 EUR).

Financial resources

basic membership fee (60 EUR), and

members’ contributions fee (60,00 EUR) for

promotion actions and trainings,

different projects supported by Ministry of

Agriculture, Forestry and Food

https://www.farmtourism.si/http://www.gov.si/mkgphttp://www.mg-rs.si/http://www.slovenia.info/http://www.rr-vel.si/tzs/


Representing the interests of members and all the tourist farms in Slovenia

Informing the members (publication of the Association Welcome on the farm)

Organizing different trainings for members

Projects dealing with developing the quality, marketing cooperation...

Training for farmers - in cooperation with the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia

Culinary courses

In terms of coordination and support, the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, Agriculture and Forestry Institute Celje is the leading organisation in the field of rural development in the region and employs 110 employees. The Agriculture Advisory Service Department consists of 52 agricultural advisors and specialists. There are also 7 advisors specialised in farm tourism and the supplementary activities on the farms.

The advisors offer to the farmers services as a technological consulting, educating, business planning, assistance by applying for financial support in the field of agricultural policy measures, assistance by organising and operating of the breading organisations, organisations of producers and other forms of product and interest associations of farmers, as well as participation in different rural development projects on the regional level. Legalisation process is proceeded on local administration units

The farm tourism is well developed in Celje. There are 63 farms with accommodation and 75 farms that offer food and drinks. We also educate the providers of farm and country tourism and other supplementary activities, advise them on the procedures of registration and development of their offer, for more than 30 years and have a lot of experiences with different projects in the field of rural development. The institute also provides professional help for coordination and performance of all activities of Združenje turističnih kmetij Slovenije / Association of tourist farms of Slovenia and has splendid contacts with other institutions covering other Slovenian regions. Gastronomy is featured prominently on the website of the farm tourism association and is eager to promote the no less than 24 gastronomic areas and over 160 typical dishes. Farm tourism is linked to gastronomy through experiences in tasting, the production and/or processing of cheeses, meat products, sausages, oils, honey, and other food.

Ms Kosi is in contact with Jelena Krivcevic from RDA and is actively sharing information.

Mr Robert Bacac, Founder of Ruralis in Croatia and expert in rural tourism standards Mr Robert Bacac presented the Croatian experience. For decades, Croatia has been marketed as sun, sand and sea—leaving the tourism offer susceptible to high seasonality and low value added. To counter this, rural tourism in Istria has been steadily developing and has contributed not only to the enrichment of tourism services but also to the activation of resources possessed by the Istrian inland, through a concrete articulation of tourism products.


Gastronomic tourism is also leading the push to rejuvenate the tourist offer away from mass tourism with a new gastronomic identity. The revival of traditional customs, notably culinary heritage and a return to classic ingredients and food products linked to origin (GI) as well as traditional ways of food preparation is attracting more higher-end customers who, in turn, have been positively affecting the revitalization of the destination based on authenticity. Rural traditions and culture represented in architecture and gastronomy has been extremely important for growth of rural tourism, and many measures and capacity building activities have been implemented in that regard. Protected products played an important role in the identity of the destination, and Istria has done excellent work in this manner and worked with local producers on establishing associations for protection of various products. These products then played an important role in overall tourism offer of Istria. As such, there was a growing need for rural tourism businesses of Istria with recognizable and diversified typology of farms, to supply their guests with as detailed and comprehensive information as possible, about all general and specialty tourism services provided on farms, and retain authenticity. The objective became to highlight the typicality of rural tourism services, to increase the quality of services, to create a brand of rural tourism. The specific nature of products, the strictly traditional approach to service organization, respect to the local traditions in the adaptation of tourism buildings, recognizable products, diversification of farms, all these demand and justify the adoption of regulations for an internal, marketing standardization and classification of rural-tourism products and farms of Istria. Standardization and classification of rural tourism in Istria present a qualitative step towards the adoption and recognition of the characteristic and specific features of this tourism product. In the process of developing tourism services on farms, differences between farms and their organization have emerged. These differences are the result of resources available, occasional or permanent presence of the owner on the premises, the structure of services, organization models as well as farming conditions. When considering these factors, the following types of farms have developed in Istria (marketing typology):

Agritourism (farm holidays)

Rural self-catering houses and cottages

Rural B&B

Rural family hotel

This classification contains all peculiarities and varieties that differentiate tourism farms, but also those that differentiate rural tourism offer from classic accommodation services. Classification of farms was motivated by specific elements and services evaluated on site, which make this type of services different from the usual classification of services provided in tourism. This classification takes into consideration the peculiarities and the selectiveness of services offered in rural tourism of the Istrian inland, and recognizes the specific services within rural tourism, taking into account the comprehensive tourism offer. Standardization is a way of defining specific requirements, i.e. standards for a family farm. On the one hand, requirements are intended for farm owners with an aim of pointing out the specific character of their farm and motivating them to raise the quality of services provided. On the other hand, requirements


are intended for guests to enable easier matching of guests’ expectations and specific services and activities provided, based on defined parameters. Standardization is implemented through a scoring system. Measurability of standardization is manifested through scoring of different parameters (only additional requirements are scored and each requirement is worth a certain number of points). Based on the score, farms obtain a pre-defined symbol (category) for farm quality. Very similar conditions to Montenegro were present in Croatia when rural tourism was starting. Tourism

was, in mentality of people, sector relevant for coastal area, not for villages. When rural tourism was

starting, legal framework and policies were not in line with the real situation on the ground, and policies

have been changing many times. These policies and regulations were often obstacle for growth of this

sector. That is why association has been important to serve as reality check for policies, as well as

dissemination method.

Ruralis in Istria served as Destination Management Organisation, as one stop shop for variety of services

to rural household, as main advisory and mentoring body, but also as the main spot where rural tourism

households were promoted online. In most recent version of legislation that is regulating rural tourism

there are very specific types of accommodation that are traditional (such as fishing huts etc), similar to

Montenegro katuns, that cannot fulfill the requirements and minimal technical conditions, but represent

important heritage of Croatia. The law states that the guests can get services at such places, but at their

own will and responsibility, it is just very important to inform the guests ahead of time about what

conditions these places are in and what types of services one can get there. The RURALIS association

stopped functioning in 2012, the reason was money that was coming more and more, and from money,

conflicts grew within the association. Mr Bacac also met with Ms Anka Kujovic, MTSD, after the workshop

to discuss features of the statutes and regulations for rural tourism households.

Michele Rumiz, Slow Food International Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. Since its beginnings, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food. The international brand is well known to tourists and raises awareness of sustaining and protecting traditional food production. There are already eight products specific to Montenegro on the Slow Food Ark of Taste, including Lisnati raw milk cheese (Lisnati sir). The Ark was created by Slow Food to point out the existence of these products, draw attention to the risk of their extinction within a few generations, and raise awareness about their preservation. The engagement of the Chefs Alliance and a Presidium for a traditional cheese are possible future activities that can benefit producers and enhance the linkage to tourism. Two key concepts in linking gastronomy to tourism are reputation and trust. Reputation:

- Slow (maintained over time)


- Minimum standards (shared definition of quality)

- Branding (local, national and international markets)

Trust: - Strengthening social capital

- Building networks of key and like-minded stakeholders.

Slow Food Travel Slow Food Travel is a Slow Food project whose aim is to develop and promote a travel experience that is in line with the Slow Food philosophy. The Slow Food Travel project consists of different components that can be represented graphically as an onion. At the centre of the project are food and food production. Unique and biodiverse gastronomic identities constitute the heart of the project and underpin all its activities, interlinking the various attractions at the outer layers. The latter include osterias, agritourism, restaurants, inns, bars and leisure venues, and connected activities such as fairs, events and food and wine tastings. The result is a convivial community that interacts and works as a system, welcoming visitors who discover it through food. Building high-quality integrated food experiences, similar to linking people, places and products are a part of this new approach.

Recent developments in support of local gastronomy Moderator: Nina Coates, Agribusiness project officer, FAO

Following the international perspectives, we returned to the Montenegrin context and recent developments in support of local gastronomy. Ms Jelena Krivcevic, director of the Regional Development Agency and local implementer of the FAO/EBRD project pilot activities highlighted the recent developments in terms of gastronomy and tourism. The progress in activities is following:

Output Done Next steps

Traditional, local recipes included in the offer of national tourist industry

- More than 30 persons interviewed to collect recipes of traditional dishes

- 49 recipes collected - 35 recipes adapted for utilization in

local restaurants - 23 hotels and restaurants visited - Photos of all dishes made

Text for the cookbook developed

- Training for local cooks and chefs in preparing traditional dishes

- Development of promotional materials for traditional dishes

- Printing of the cookbook.

Thematic gastro routes - 52 families in the region visited - A selection of households for

gastronomic route made- 13 of them in total

- Registering the producers in the Directorate for food safety

- Label design and packaging procurement


- A selection of the producers getting a support in packing of goods made

- 25 producers chosen

- Purchase of the furniture for gastro points

- Developing promotional guide for gastro route

- Registering households on gastro route

-

National gastro offer – promotion and placement

- Coastal hotels visited - Negotiations with local hotels

finished - Making contacts between consumers

and producers - ongoing

- A fair in October - Promotional trip for the presentation

of gastro routes and traditional food - A series of episodes of the show

Gastro Nomad made in the homes of families from the pilot project, sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism

- A website containing the gastro offer of mountain parts of Montenegro

Ms Merisa Cekic of the quality department of MARD gave a presentation on quality schemes available in Montenegro, namely the geographical indications labels such as PDO, PGI and TSG. According to the regulations, it is possible to protect agricultural products and food under the following categories: Protected Denomination of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed. In these cases, the procedure is initiated by the group of producers. Since 2018, the producers have been enabled to add value to their product and improve its placement by protecting them with the indications “Higher quality”, “Mountain product” and “From my farm”. A request for the registration of these indications can be made by one producer, which makes a significant alleviation for initiating and receiving the indication. The Republic of Montenegro has protected the following products: Njeguški pršut (Njeguški ham) – PGI, Pljevaljski sir (Pljevlja cheese) – PDO, Crnogorski goveđi pršut (Montenegrin beef ham) – PDO, Crnogorska stelja (Montenegrin dry cured sheep meat) PDO, Crnogorski pršut (Montenegrin ham) – PGI and Durmitorski skorup (Durmitor clotted cream) – PGI, and the process of protecting Kolašin layered cheese has just been finished. This was followed by panel presentations and discussion on making the connection: current initiatives and future synergies to link local food and tourism in Montenegro.

Panel presentations and discussion on making the connection: current initiatives and future synergies to link local food and tourism in Montenegro Moderator: Aleksandra Martinovic, Professor, University Donja Gorica

Ms Svetlana Tomkovic on behalf of the National Tourism Organization presented their support to local gastronomy through promoting national cuisine. In the next days after the workshop, the


new promotional program “Good, Better, Homemade” was announced to support traditional gastronomy and intensify activities on promotion of placement of domestic products in the HORECA sector, realizing that this partnership is also a way to preserve tradition, culture, specificity, autochthonous products and to strengthen Montenegro’s tourism brand. Mr Milan Kljajic of the Kljajic rural tourism household and organic honey production and Ms Gordana Dulovic of the Lisnati Sir Association stressed the importance at the local household level for diversification into rural tourism as well as their positive experiences in growing with the demand of rural tourism. The newly registered GI Kolasinski sir will surely support the link between the local gastronomy and tourism. Both are motivated and mobilized for a common objective, and that is creating a business out of traditional knowledge and local culture. The supply manager of the Regent Porto, Mr Danilo Skuric, echoed many of the findings from the Gap Review deliverable , i.e that the guest is very much interested in typical products, and the hotel as well. The law prescribes that the products procured by the hotel need to satisfy certain conditions – they need to be analysed and safe for consumption. For this reason it is much easier that procure products from the wholesale sector as surely all the products that they sell satisfy these criteria. However, the wholesale sector does not offer specialty products, or what they call premium products, and those are real delicacies that are not easy to find. In that regard it is important to establish direct communication with producers of such products, which is what Regent Porto does. The issue is that it is difficult for a hotel based in Tivat to know where all the producers of such products are located, to identify them, find them, and establish business communication with them. It is much easier when producers know that such demand exists in Regent Porto, and to come to the hotel, present their products and negotiate potential sales.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Emilie Vandecandelaere wrapped up the key findings to the workshop, highlighted the tremendous

quantity of relevant information both from other countries and from ongoing local initiatives and

perspectives. In particular the next steps of the project will allow to build a roadmap for local stakeholders

to implement successful approaches in linking typical products to relevant niche markets, though local

gastronomy, agritourist and synergies with HORECA sector, including a description of interesting

destinations. The ongoing local pilots, on promotion of local gastronomy in the Northern Mountain and

linking with HORECA sector in the Coast are paving the way for similar initiatives and their scaling-up,

while the forthcoming Atlas of typical Montenegrin food products will provide raise awareness and

interests for the Montenegrin food heritage.


Jelena Krivcevic confirms the importance of the first results of the pilots in the Northern mountain area

and in linking with HORECA sector, she thanked all participants and in particular, the international guests

with whom the project will certainly keep exchanging. Many important lessons can be learnt from the

experiences of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, and certainly some of the successful practices from there

can be adapted for usage in Montenegro. This event has been of particular importance for families active

in rural tourism and members of Rural Tourism Association in Montenegro, and already many of them

expressed satisfaction with the content of the event and particularly with experiences presented by the

three guests from abroad.

Building on the presentations and findings of the workshop, the following recommendations to stakeholders are summarized here: In general:

- Expert assistance, financial support and constant attention to changing contexts are all key points. Rural tourism and gastronomy are dynamic, living things.

- Distinguish roles: public authorities provide the regulations, including for certification; civil society/private sector lead the initiatives

- Change the relationship between farmers and consumers and between producers and chefs, through paying attention to communicating important messages and understanding each other’s roles and perspectives.

- Coordination, cooperation and networks are all drivers of successful rural tourism. The future lies in partnerships.

For producers:

- Believe in your own potential - 2 key concepts are reputation and trust. Work to strengthen both. Households learn from their

guests - Marketing and promotion is equally important, and so is the education of experience. - Be proactive and go the hotels on the coast to present your offer, don’t wait for hotels to find

you

For public authorities: - Don’t over regulate – for example for small capacities in Austria no registration is needed. For

food safety they simply have three one-day courses of trainings on hygiene and sanitation. - Allow for unusual accommodation, which is a growing trend in Europe. Authentic fishermen

huts in Croatia, katuns in Montenegro etc.

.


Annexes Agenda

8.30 Welcome coffee

9.00 Opening

Mr Ćazim Hodžić, Director General of the Directorate for Development of Tourist Destination and Tourist Infrastructure,

Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development (MTSD)

Mr Enis Gjokaj, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)

Mr Jaap Sprey, Head of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Resident Office, EBRD

Ms Emilie Vandecandelaere, Agribusiness Economist and Project Coordinator, FAO

9.30 Recent developments in support of rural tourism

Moderator: Ben Toric, Value chain expert, FAO

The Program of Rural Tourism Development of Montenegro and Action Plan 2019-2021, Mr Nikola Ilic, Advisor, MTSD

The 2019 Agrobudget, Ms Milena Kotlica, Programming Advisor, MARD,

Introduction to the NGO Associated rural households—village tourism, Vucko Pesic, President, NGO Udružena seoska

domaćinstva—Turizam na selu

Q&A


10.30 Coffee Break

11.00 Panel presentations and discussion on best practices in rural tourism from an international perspective

Moderator: Jelena Krivcevic, Director, Regional Development Agency for Bjelasica, Komovi and Prokletije

Ms Doris Fertl, Director, Urlaub am Bauernhof in Lower Austria

Ms Renata Kosi, Expert for tourism on farms, Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, Agriculture and Forestry Institute

Celje ; Agriculture Advisory Service Department

Mr Robert Bacac, Founder of Ruralis in Croatia and expert in rural tourism standards

Mr Michele Rumiz, Director, Slow Food Travel, Slow Food International

Q&A

12.45 Buffet Lunch

14.00 Recent developments in support of local gastronomy

Moderator: Nina Coates, Agribusiness project officer, FAO

Early results of the “local gastronomy pilot” activities in the Northern mountain area, Ms Jelena Krivcevic, Director, Regional

Development Agency for Bjelasica, Komovi and Prokletije

Quality schemes to promote local gastronomy in Montenegro, Merisa Cekic, Head of Department for Quality, MARD

Q&A

14.40 Panel presentations and discussion on making the connection: current initiatives and future synergies to link local food and

tourism in Montenegro

Moderator: Aleksandra Martinovic, Professor, University Donja Gorica

Ms. Svetlana Tomkovic, National Tourism Organization

Mr Milan Kjajic, Kuca Kljajica farmstay, organic farm and apiary

Ms Gordana Dulovic, member of Lisnati Sir Association (Geographical indication candidate)

Mr Danilo Skuric, Supply manager, Regent Porto Montenegro (tbc)

Q&A

16.30 Wrap up and way forward

Ms Emilie Vandecandelaere, Agribusiness Economist and Project Coordinator, FAO

PHOTOS


List of participants

Redni

broj/No. Name/ime

Organizacija/Organisation

Opština/Municipality

1 Ćazim Hodžić MORT

2. Jaap Sprey EBRD

3. Vanja Kljajević EBRD

4. Michele Rumiz Slow Food

5. Anka Kujović Ministry of Sustainable Development

and Tourism

6. Nikola Ilić Ministry of Sustainable Development

and Tourism

7. Milena Kotlica Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development

8. Enis Gjokaj Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development

9. Merisa Čekić Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development

10. Robert Bacac Ruralis Croatia

11. Renata Kosi Association of tourist farms in Slovenia

12. Doris Fertl Urlaub am Bauernhof in Lower Austria

13. Jelena Krivčević RDA BKP

14. Radojka Šćekić RDA BKP

15. Snežana Zečević RDA BKP

16. Saša Nedović RDA BKP

17. Ivan Mališić RDA BKP

18. Dalibor Šekularac RDA BKP

19. Gordana Fatić Municipality Berane

20. Nikola Vlaović Municipality Mojkovac

21. Danilo Škurić Hotel regent Porto Montenegro


22. Jelena Vračar Directorate for Foodsafety

23. Aleksandar Vlaović TO Kolašin

24. Petar Vučinić TO Mojkovac

25. Sabina Ramović RAMS

26. Musa Ramović RAMS

27. Ćirović Igor Andrijevica

28. Ćirović Nevenka Andrijevica

29. Ilija Klisić Bar

30. Miško Leković Bar

31. Ivo Pejanović Bar

32. Milan Kljajić Berane

33. Danka Šekularac Berane

34. Savo Merdović Berane

35. Jelena Božović Berane

36. Stefan Raković Berane

37. Sanja Raković Berane

38. Merdović Milisav Berane

39. Momo Kuveljić Bijelo Polje

40. Vučko Pešić Bijelo Polje

41. Milo Bojović Gusinje

42. Žizela Marković Herceg Novi

43. Julka Krivokapić Herceg Novi

44. Željko Radman Herceg Novi

45. Gordana Dulović Kolašin

46. Miloš Bulatović Kolašin

47. Ljubo Vukadinović Mojkovac


48. Velisavka Vuković Mojkovac

49. Boris Tomović Mojkovac

50. Miloš

Radosavljević Mojkovac

51. Ratko Bataković Nikšić

52. Đorđe Bulajić Nikšić

53. Siniša Novaković Nikšić

54. Tufo Ajdarpašić Petnjica

55. Almir Adrović Petnjica

56. Ermina

Redžematović Plav

57. Fuad Feratović Plav

58. Željko Mitrić Plužine

59. Željko Macanović Pljevlja

60. Milojka Kušljević Pljevlja

61. Nemanja Marić Pljevlja

62. Goran Macanović Pljevlja

63. Elmaza Hadžić Rožaje

64. Ljubomir Ćeranić Šavnik

65. Vanja Šarović Žabljak

66. Pajo Kaljević Žabljak

67. Zoran Pavićević Žabljak

68. Fahid Feratović Plav

69. Aleksandra

Martinović FAO

70. Oskar Huter TO Cetinje

71. Anđa Vukčević

Zorić SWG Nikšić


72. Nikola Jovićević Eco resort Cetinje

73. Nenad Obradović Luštica, Herceg Novi

74. Ivana Babović Andrijevica

75. Velinka Pavićević Žabljak

76. Emilie

Vandecandelaere FAO

77. Benjamin Torić FAO

78. Bojana Stanišić MPRR

79. Andrijana Bojović Gusinje

80. Zoran Vesković Municipality Berane

81. Ilija Moric University of Montenegro

82. Nina Coates FAO

83. Svetlana Tomković NTO

national workshop on issues and prospects for the successful … report.pdf · 2020. 4. 29. · •...

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