January 8 (SeeNews) - Serbia's National Tourism Organisation estimates the total currency inflow to the country from tourism activities in 2017 at 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion), the president of the organisation, Marija Labovic, has said.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals increased by 18% year-on-year in 2017, with the number of tourists from Israel and China rising by 245% and 118%, respectively, Labovic said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian broadcaster RTS on Saturday.
As many as 45% of all foreign tourists who visited Serbia in 2017 came from the region of Southeast Europe (SEE), Labovic said.
"Our research has shown that out of the total number of foreign tourists, 52% came here for the first time. A total of 80% of the tourists said they would return to Serbia in the future," Labovic added.
In the eleven months through November, the total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Serbia rose 17.6% year-on-year to 1,386,097, while the total number of overnights spent by foreign tourists added 16.4% to 2,939,252, according to the most recent data released by the country's statistical office.