Nikolcevic: Brezovica has most guests from Albania; Serbian skiers are slowly 'breaking the ice'

In the ski resort of Brezovica, famous for its excellent slopes, there used to be guests from all over the former Yugoslavia, but in recent years, most come from Albania and Kosovo, says Draginja Nikolcevic, owner of the "Tina" pizzeria, which has been operating in Brezovica for over thirty years. Visitors from Serbia are rare, but they are warmly welcomed, as, she adds, they are slowly 'breaking the ice' and seeing that it is not so dangerous here.

"When we opened in 1993, 32 years ago, it was still Yugslavia. The ski center was well-known, and we had visitors from all over Yugoslavia coming here to ski. The slopes are famously good and we had many competitions, the most memorable being the May Day skiing, which lasted until May 5th and was always packed. The organization was fantastic; back then, the Inex company built these hotels, and the cable cars were outstanding for that time, making this center strong, and I can say we were doing better than Kopaonik at that time. This is a place with huge potential, a large number of people, good organization, and the mountain is excellent, so when you put all that together, you get a strong ski center that works fantastically," states Nikolcevic.

She emphasizes that from 1993 to 1999 there were many guests, while in 2000, it was mainly people working for foreign organizations.

"From 2001 to 2004, Albanians probably did not come due to some fear, since this is a Serbian area. Mostly, there were people working for foreign organizations. But from 2004, people from Kosovo slowly started coming, and it picked up from there. It's sluggish, I'm amazed this center still operates because the cables are old, the hotels are old, but there are people, they come, they're satisfied. I always emphasize that guests here don't look for luxury; they're happy with cleanliness, warmth, and a working cable car. We manage with accommodation, and there's something on offer here, and there are good hotels below, so it's somewhat revived, we're working, still stagnating. It's incredible how many people are eager for this mountain; it fascinates me how many come here to ride, maybe sit in a restaurant, go back, and that's it. We don't have many possibilities; even the skiers don't come as much as people who just want to take a walk," explains our interlocutor.

She says that in recent years, the majority of guests have been from Albania and Kosovo. "In the last few years, we have had many guests from Albania, they are very good guests. They mostly don't ski; they're just happy to come here to see the snow, walk around, take a cable car ride. They are big gourmets, so we're seeing an increasing number of guests from Albania. There are also guests from Kosovo, and from Serbia, not a significant number, but we're happy to see them because they are, so to say, breaking the ice and see that it is not so dangerous here, that they can come and ski. We also get quite a few people from abroad since we have two airports nearby, Pristina and Skopje. On weekends, we get many from Germany and Austria, and occasionally someone from America or France, so it's diverse, but in terms of the region, most of our guests are from Albania and Kosovo," says Nikolcevic.