Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
At the Second Session of the Creative Republic of Bihać, one of the participants in the panel on branding cities and tourist destinations will be Amarildo Mulić, Director of the National Park Una. In an interview with Media Marketing, he presented his thoughts on branding in general, branding of Una and Bihać, and announced this year’s Una Regatta.
Media Marketing: As a director of the National Park Una, your job is to preserve and increase the value of Una as a brand, and of the areas through which it runs. How big is this value and can it even be estimated?
Amarildo Mulić: The value of natural resources, and nature in general, in my opinion is neither estimable nor measurable. It is said that life is priceless, and Una means life for us in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There’s a very special feeling and attitude towards this emerald river, and the way of life of the local people along the Una River and its tributaries. No matter how much we protect these resources and Una, it’s not enough, because man is not responsible for its beauty, and we are also not exploiting it enough for a variety of benefits that she offers us, and which we often do not see. Since the establishment of the National Park Una, it seems that all of us “see better”, and have a vision of something much bigger.
Our primary goal and the primary task as a manager of the protected area of NP Una is, without doubt, the preservation of natural as well as cultural values of the park, and the traditions of the region and all other social streams. However, although the regulations and planning documents give us certain jurisdictions and tasks to carry out in the field, which we conduct in certain geographic boundaries, it’s certainly our intention and vision to act much wider than that coverage, all along the river Una and her entire basin. Here I particularly mean the last five years, and the gained experience and knowledge that we can pass on to the authorities and the administration of the local community in terms of providing guidelines for the designation and protection of certain values in Una-Sana Canton. In this context, we have plenty of room for economic prosperity in the sectors that are acceptable in the area of nature preservation. Is that not a correct and logical way? Building of “green industry” with the goods that God has provided us? They are here, and we not utilizing them properly.
To me, this would be a natural and logical sequence of things after the establishment of the National Park Una, and a modern and tested approach to managing the resources at our disposal, both in terms of protection and economic development of areas with a focus on sustainable tourism. It is quite unacceptable – and in my opinion impossible – to positively act in the area of NP Una without transferring these positive effects out of this area, given the global trends, the importance of protecting nature and the fact that the untouched natural resources are globally in increasing demand in the tourist market, as the statistics are showing increasing number of visits to such destinations. After all, in our immediate neighborhood, we have Plitvice Lakes National Park as a clear example. The designation of National Park Una laid the foundations of something that has the potential to become a good tourist brand, of course under the condition that it is properly managed because it must be a brand in that preservation sense, regardless of how much this may be uncommon in practice and the process of branding. We wish to be recognized in the future as a Park which is famous for how it balances between protection and development in a sustainable way, accentuating the nature and the overall protection of biodiversity. I believe that such an approach is valued in the world, and therefore has an impact on the branding of the entire park, as well as certain natural values within it and the content that we offer or create.
Media Marketing: You are participating at the Creative Republic of Bihać in a panel discussion on Branding in Tourism. Are there plans for branding of Una, for branding of Bihać, and for defining the entire canton as a brand?
Amarildo Mulić: In the previous question I’ve already touched on the things that concern this issue, and when we talk about Una, branding it as a natural value must always be closely related to the protection. The team must approach the marketing in this same way, regardless of whether some part of the Una is placed under institutional protection or not, such as the National Park Una. Your question as an expert in marketing is properly and justifiably raised, and suggests some ideas that should be implemented gradually and are related to branding the narrower (Bihać and other municipalities) and the wider area (USC as a whole). For this, certain conditions must be met, and tourist offer created and connected, for which, unfortunately, we can’t say that it’s at an adequate level when we talk about the wider area – the Una Sana Canton. I believe that it is necessary to connect and raise the existing offer to a higher level and also work on creating a new offer in tourism and all activities that are associated with it in order to, after that, start the promotion and branding of the entire territory and all that exists in it as an offer in tourism or any other sector.
Branding of Una necessitates engagement of the wider community – the municipalities through which Una flows and other institutions at higher levels because Una in its 214 kilometers course, from the source to the mouth, has different characteristics, natural features and great biodiversity, so its branding would probably be driven by its uniqueness and diversity, because Una is the one and only.
Branding of tourism offer in cities and municipalities in FBiH, including the town of Bihać, is very difficult to predict and plan due to the regulations regarding tourism business and tourist boards, which used to exist or are currently in force. Abolition of tourist boards at the municipal level and maintaining cantonal ones did not promote tourism in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Communities that would work systematically at this level to promote tourism and create, in our case, the brand of the City of Bihać have been shut down. Tourist Board of USC in its current system of organization and the capacities they own cannot meet all the demands in the complex process of creating a tourist offer without the existence of organizations that are designing and implementing such activities at a lower level, especially if you take into account the situation in the tourism industry. Positive developments and trends in this area and are not significant if we consider what opportunities we have for the development of tourism. Although specific justification for such situation exist, there are more things for which we have no reasonable justification.
Media Marketing: How much do Bihać and Canton count on tourism in their development plans, and how much would successful branding of Una contribute to the increase of tourism revenues?
Amarildo Mulić: Since I am by profession an expert in the field of tourism, through my entire working life I was directly or indirectly related to this industry, and have always tried to give full support to the development of tourism in this region. Some development plans exist, and some would be good to prepare or revise the existing ones, but I do not think that the biggest problem is the lack of or poor quality of certain planning documents, even where there are none. The problem is in a lousy and dishonest approach, insufficient inclusion, often ignorance and inexperience in executing the planned tasks, and I would say the lack of will and sincere desire of all involved in the development and upgrading of tourist offer to their maximum limit. The problem also lies in the lack of vision of the managers as responsible persons and all others who need to contribute to the development of tourism, as well as to the protection of the environment. You just need to have a vision, communicate it into all the documents and regulations, and successfully implement them in practice, on the ground. When the NP Una is concerned, with the natural beauty and the offer that we have, I often define the vision in our case as “a diverse set of products of excellence.”
Every plan, intention and implementation of a certain activity depends on the vision of one or more individuals, including the organization of managed space. Not all of us share the same vision when it comes to preservation and also the utilization of potentials of the river Una and surrounding areas for a variety of benefits. I am personally and professionally for the protection of Una, but also for sustainable development, provided that this economic development (tourism mostly) is based on the principles of preservation of nature and takes place in terms of protection. Any approach that marginalizes protection when it comes to Una, I do not consider a vision.
Media Marketing: Una Regatta is an important part of the river Una brand. What else could you add to this brand as a value, apart from natural beauty and the regatta?
Amarildo Mulić: Una Regatta is certainly an important part of the Una brand, because it is an event that has a tradition and is in the fifth decade of existence. It has passed through various stages – from a purely sporting event that predominantly comprised of athletes-kayakers and rafters, lovers of Una, to the present day when this event has a greater tourist character. Including new vessels such as rafting boats gave the possibility to others to participate in the magic of Una during the race, and as the things progressed, the event was also enriched with other cultural and sports facilities, and over time it has taken on an international character and became part of the Una brand. It has seen its peak, followed by a decline in terms of organization and the number of participants, and as such it was entrusted to NP Una in 2014. I believe that we are gradually returning the glow of Una Regatta, although last year – and it seems this year as well – we are left to our own devise and have to organize this event without any financial or other support.
Of course, Una Regatta should not be, and is not, the only event that is linked to Una and the National Park Una. Since the establishment of the protected area, we were aware of the importance of attribution of value to various cultural and sporting events held in the National Park Una, but also those that are related to the events and sites outside the park, which we also support. As co-organizers and sponsors we are trying to enrich the events that were held even before the existence of NP Una, together with various non-governmental organizations. There are also some newly created events under the auspices of NP Una, which are evolving into traditional events. It is important to emphasize cooperation with Una Emeralds – Association for creating a culture of preservation and protection of the Una River, which exists for twenty six years and works on the environmental education of children and adults, to raise ecological awareness to a higher level. In order to create diversity and excellence in NP Una, we are also trying to support and promote traditional events, as well as some facilities and activities such as kayaking and rafting, fly fishing, mountain biking, equestrian sports and others.
With Una we must definitely tie the Una Railroad. Given its current state of disrepair, our vision is to revive this railroad and make it a part of permanent tourist offer, and not only use it occasionally a few times during the year. Traditional event Rotary train through the Emerald valley of the river Una is an event which aims to demonstrate the importance and potential of this silenced railroad for tourism, NP Una and Una, as well as for the economy of the region in general.
Media Marketing: When will the Regatta be held this year, and could you announce any novelties?
Amarildo Mulić: The 44th International Una Regatta this year will be held from 28 to 31 July.
We will try to introduce some minor changes and innovations in the program of the regatta, and this year we started much earlier with the preparation and publication of the program. As of this year, and in every year to come, our intention is to have a concert of a famous band or a music star that will attract more visitors to the event. This year the intention has been fulfilled by making an agreement on a concert by Bijelo Dugme, which this year has a world tour. The concert of the mega popular rock band will be held on the penultimate day of the Una Regatta in Bihać, at the stadium of football club Jedinstvo.
In accordance with our financial capabilities and all the other facilities, we intend to raise this event every year to a higher level in all respects, with the emphasis on its international promotion, and therefore the promotion of the river Una, and National Park Una.