Gostilje is candidate for world's most beautiful village: 100,000 people visit it each year

On the slopes of the Zlatibor mountain, 24 kilometers from its central tourist resort, lies the village of Gostilje, which will be a candidate for the most beautiful village in the world this year.

Last year, Mokra Gora, another village in western Serbia, won this title.

"We also have the cultural and historical monument that is the house where Dimitrije Tucovic was born, a handful of beautiful observation decks, such as Cigota, Borkovac, we have Zaugline, and recently we started working on the Rakovica Cave, which will surely bring even more tourists and more accommodation facilities to the village in the future," Miroslav Tucovic, the president of the Gostilje tourist association, told RTS.

The locals say that the best prosciutto is made in this natural environment, while the best brandy is distilled outdoors, even when strong mountain winds blow.

"It's not a big nuisance. We make everything naturally, anyway, we use apples, plums, all untreated with chemicals, and the brandy must be good," says villager Milenko Jovanovic.

Thanks to a public-private partnership project, after 12 years, Gostilje is ranked among the 20 most beautiful villages in the world that will this year compete for the title. This is also an example of how, in practice, public investments can attract private ones.

"And of how the so-called social infrastructure can be created, that is, how to, thanks to tourism, keep young and capable people in the country, who can be a factor of further rural development, and at the same time of employment of young people in rural areas," said Darko Djurovic, the director of the Innovation Business Center Zlatibor.

"We are happy to be given the chance to additionally promote and present the village itself, the municipality of Cajetina, the tourist center Zlatibor and we will respect the recommendations of the World Tourism Organization, because we believe that by improving the team and through their suggestions and potentials, we can classify that village among the best," said Vladimir Zivanovic, the director of the Zlatibor Tourism Organization.

People on Mt. Zlatibor want to share their experience with other parts of Serbia, because they say that there are many beautiful villages with the potential to attract tourists, which would bring them back to life and, like in Gostilje, create jobs and new opportunities.

(Telegraf.rs)