In 2017, tourism’s direct contribution to GDP was 0.9%, and this was expected to increase by 2.3% in 2018 to a total of RSD 104.8 billion. The total contribution of the tourism industry to the Serbian economy, including the effects from investment, supply chain and induced income impacts, amounted to RSD 294.6 billion in 2017, or 6.7% of GDP, and was expected to have grown by 2.7% to RSD 302.5 billion in 2018.
The tourism industry directly generated 32 000 jobs in the Republic of Serbia in 2017, representing 1.8% of the country’s total employment. The industry attracted capital investment of RSD 33.8 billion, 4.1% of total national investment. This is expected to rise by 2% over the next ten years to RSD 43.5 billion by 2028.
The total number of tourist arrivals in 2018 was 3.4 million, an increase of 11.2% from 2017. International arrivals accounted for 49.9% of total arrivals, and showed a 14.2% increase on 2017. Domestic arrivals increased by 8.3% in 2018 compared to 2017.
The key source markets for international arrivals in 2018 were Bosnia and Herzegovina (15.4% market share), Montenegro (12.3%), and China (10.5%), followed closely by Croatia and Turkey. All of the five top markets showed growth in volume of arrivals between 2017 and 2018, particularly China which showed an increase of 89%.
This statistic shows the number of international tourist arrivals at accommodation establishments in Serbia from 2012 to 2016. In 2016 there were around 1.28 million international arrivals at accommodation establishments in Serbia.
The average number of inbound visitors per inhabitant in Serbia has generally increased over the period from 2008 to 2019. According to the data from UNWTO, tourism intensity in Serbia in 2019 was 0.21 visitors per inhabitant.
