Belgrade gears up to host Eurovision Contest
Serbia will be hosting the 53rd annual Eurovision Song Contest in May. UK tour operators report a surge of bookings and that hotels are very near to full capacity, as Belgrade the capital of Serbia finishes the final preparation for both the semi-final rounds, which will take place on the 20th and 22nd May and the final on the 24th.
The Eurovision Song Contest has become a European tradition since its creation 53 years ago in 1958 and has been elevated to almost cult status. More and more countries continue to submit performers each year and there will be a record 43 countries participating in 2008.
Last year’s host, Helsinki, saw immediate benefits from hosting Eurovision. Over 80,000 people came to Helsinki for the show with 70,000 tickets being sold. Of those tickets, 20,000 of them were sold to visitors abroad. Eurovision brought Finland over €12.6 million in revenue as well as more big events to Helsinki. Local businesses in Helsinki saw a rise in income from the event and Belgrade expects even more visitors and revenue to come by the growing popularity of the show.
Eurovision Song Contest’s popularity has soared over the years to an estimated 100 million viewers in 2007. Over 8.7 million viewers participated by voting by phone, SMS or Internet. Gordana Plamenac, director of National Tourism Organization of Serbia, said: “We have been seeing the number of UK visitors rise steadily year on year over the last four years, in fact in 2007 we were 40% up on our 2006 figures with nearly 22,000 visitors, but we are very excited about hosting Euro Vision and we look forward to receiving a boost of UK visitors.
Holiday Options and Regent Holidays, that both have packages from the United Kingdom to Serbia, each report strong bookings.
Belgrade is more than capable of holding an event such as Eurovision. Eurovision 2008 will be held in the Belgrade Arena, capable of holding 20,000 spectators. The arena is fifteen minutes away from the airport making it easily accessible and it benefits from having many hotels in the vicinity.
For more information visit www.serbia.travel.
Report by Chitra Mogul
Chitra Mogul
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