Rebec 2024: Belgrade will be a world-class city after Expo 2027, and Belgradians need to be explained how the exhibit will improve their lives

Expo 2027 is a great opportunity for Serbia, which could bring millions of tourists each next year and make Belgrade part of the world. In addition to presenting to foreigners everything that Serbia has to offer, Belgradians need to be explained how Expo 2027 will improve their lives. It’s all different after Expo – that is the conclusion of the panel dedicated to the potentials of Expo 2027 for Belgrade and Serbia, held at the real estate conference REBEC 2024, which is closing today in Belgrade.

Matteo Gatto, the director of matteogatto&associate, who has taken part in the organization of seven Expos so far, points out that Expo can be the right opportunity to change the country’s narrative, but that it doesn’t always happen. He also mentioned the bad experiences, such as the one in Hannover in 2000, when, as he says, the opportunity was not used, and Japan, which wanted to copy Dubai, which resulted in a fiasco.

– You have started off well, the topic you’ve chosen is good, but if you want to profit from the opportunities that Expo is bringing, to realize tourism and economic growth and results after the exhibition, you have to start communicating now, create publicity about the event, so that, after it, you would have millions of visitors who will come back over and over again. This is an opportunity for people to learn about everything that Serbia offers in terms of economy, finances and tourism – says Gatto.

And in order to achieve this, according to him, preparation and a good plan are necessary.

– Try to create a vision of the city and a schedule of events after Expo. As far as I can see, Belgrade is already changing, and this could be a turning point for the city and a great opportunity. It is also important to explain to people who live in Belgrade what the city can be like in the future – points out Gatto.

Explaining to Belgradians how Expo will improve their lives

Zarko Malinovic, the assistant minister of domestic and foreign trade, notes that Expo is the biggest event in the world in terms of organization. Everything after it, he says, will be different.

– We have to understand that it is a great opportunity for Serbia, not just to reposition itself, but to go from being an unknown country to a known one. When I visited Expo in Milan, it turned out that an average visitor didn’t even know where Serbia was. Industry leaders often believe that Serbia has a bad image from the past. That’s not true, they don’t know Serbia and we can now change that – says Malinovic.

He believes that, in addition to the outward communication, it is necessary to communicate with the local community as well and explain to the people of Belgrade how Expo will improve their lives.

– If you compare Sarajevo before and after the Olympics, it’s a whole different city. The same applies to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a republic and Yugoslavia as a country. Remember that Andy Warhol designed the Sarajevo Olympics poster. Such events make you part of the world. Belgrade will be part of the world after Expo – believes Malinovic.

Opportunity for investments in hotels – Deadline by the end of the year

Referring to the estimate that Belgrade doesn’t have sufficient hotel capacities for the expected number of visitors, Milusa Okiljevic, a partner at OM&Partners, reminded that, in 2023, the Government of Serbia had adopted subsidies for the construction of new hotels and reconstruction of old ones.

– State assistance in the amount of 20% of the value of the investment can be used by investors in hotels with at least three stars and 50 accommodation units. The minimal investment for a reconstruction is EUR 2 million, whereas, for the construction of new facilities, it is EUR 5 million. The application deadline is by the end of the year, so investors still have time – said Okiljevic and added that there was excellent internal support for the organization of Expo and that everybody was aware of the potentials and challenges.

She added that the Government would sign an agreement with the BIE, the intergovernmental organization which has been supervising Expo events worldwide since 1931, and that that document would be the basis for all the next regulations.

– The aim is to improve the experience of all the visitors. We will have representatives of the participants who will stay in Serbia for over six months and we have to reduce the administrative pressure. There will be one center in which all the participants will be able to submit all requests, instead of addressing the local authorities, which is a good start – Okiljevic said.

Zarko Malinovic agrees that this is very important.

– From the experience of a country which is taking pat in the exhibition, it is important for there to be only one place, one person and one mail that they can write to when they need something. We are all part of some kind of administration, both the participating countries and the host, and that is why simple procedures are crucial. In Osaka, the problem was that they followed the local procedures, they had no special regulations for Expo, which is like having to go to the municipality of Surcin here to have a project approved. That is why we have insisted on special regulations – says Malinovic.

Think about how to “sell” the city

Mario Liguori, the executive director of New Business, whose company has so far organized G7 summits and other big events, advises Serbia to be proactive, efficient and think about which services it can offer to the visitors, aside from the exhibit itself.

– You have various delegations, business ones, political ones, delegations from schools and everybody is looking for different things. At the pavilion, you have 4-8 events a day, you will have a large number of last-moment requests. In terms of organization, it is crucial for there to be one contact person, one meeting point. Expo is part of a bigger puzzle, it needs to “sell” the city for the next years. You are good hosts, but you need to be organized as well, be ready to introduce others with your culture, which many are not familiar with. If you do a good job, a year later, you will have more tourists coming to visit your country – says Mario Liguori.

Matteo Gatto points out that the participating countries should be used for promotion, which, as he noted, rarely anyone does.

– They’re all concerned with logistics, transport, organization, and they forget to include the participating countries, which can be the best partner in promoting the exhibition. Until we got Expo in Milan, many didn’t know that Italy had volcanoes, mountains. And they know even less about Serbia – Matteo says and adds that Milan has changed radically since Expo: – Expo changes everything. Milan is a very wealthy city, but for example, credit card transactions increased during the exhibition 100 times compared to the same period in the previous year. Before, Milan was a destination for congresses, shopping and business, and now it’s a big tourist city. We have used that opportunity for positioning and branding the city, which you can do as well.

M. Dedic

ADVOKAT, MILUŠA R. OKILJEVIĆ

OMandPartners

Expo 2027

REBEC 2024

Matteo Gatto

Žarko Malinović

Miluša Okiljević

Mario Liguori

Matteogattoassociati

New Business

what Expo brings