REPLACES ATTRACTIVE DESTINATIONS WITH BABINO BRDO

Zlatko Okolić from Doboj started working for the American Cruise Line company Princess Cruises in 2010, which at the time had 16 luxury ships. The ships cruised all over the world, allowing this Doboj native to visit the most attractive destinations worldwide.

- At that time, it was much harder to get a job like that, everything was slow, there were fewer agencies than today. When I got employed, I had the opportunity to visit Alaska, the Caribbean, the entire American coast, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Quebec. Contracts were for six months and then two to three months off. For that, you need to be mentally very strong because you can literally forget everything you knew and the habits you had there - explained Zlatko for the SeeSrpska portal.

Five years later, he decided to work on riverboats in Europe.

He gained invaluable experience on the Danube-Rhine-Main route.

- From a professional standpoint, this experience is invaluable if you want to improve professionally; it's an ideal place to gain knowledge about the most famous world dishes, drinks, wines used in the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the world. The butler's position is not easy; you take care of ultra-expensive and luxurious suites where I was a connection between the company and the guests - explained Zlatko, adding that clients who came to these ships arrived by private planes. Training for this job was constant; he highlighted one in Vienna where the lecturers were people trained in the royal family in England. Putting his own priorities first, which was a return home, he applies the acquired experiences to a tourist complex near Derventa.

- I definitely found myself in this job and improved a lot independently, and what we are trying to do here is to apply those experiences as much as possible. Our country has a very high tourism potential; however, there are many other problems, primarily of the population itself, where we underestimate ourselves compared to some other tourist destinations from the start. I had the opportunity to exchange opinions with many guests from America, England, Australia, and for them, some things that are everyday for us are incomprehensible. One visitor from New York, who can only buy honey in a supermarket, was thrilled with our honey when he realized that he could see what the process of making looks like in numerous households throughout Republika Srpska, Zlatko explained.

As a manager of the Babino Brdo complex, he says that domestic tourism needs a more serious approach and development strategy.

Our guests seek peace, silence, nature, homemade food, and so on, but it must be connected with good service, cultural approach of the staff.

Okolić says he made a turning point when he realized that here, along with a job he loves, he can lead a normal family life.