FROM ZMIJANJE EMBROIDERY TO HOMEMADE CHEESE: KRAJINA IS A DESTINATION TO BE EXPERIENCED

Krajina has everything today’s travellers are increasingly looking for: unspoiled nature, homemade food, authentic products, tradition, and people who represent their homeland through a way of life passed down through generations.

PHOTO: Poljoklaster Krajina

Bringing these different potentials together is the work of the Agricultural Cluster “Krajina”, a modern form of cooperation that currently brings together 14 members, including cooperatives, associations, businesses and individual agricultural producers. Educational and scientific research institutions also play an important role in the Cluster’s work, including the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Banja Luka and the Agricultural Institute of Banja Luka.

The Cluster’s main role is development-oriented – from designing and implementing projects, to organising education and training programmes and providing advisory support to producers in areas such as cooperation, marketing, sales development and rural tourism. Another form of support is the acquisition of an agricultural drone, whose full-scale application is yet to be launched.

“Krajina, in the broadest sense, is not primarily an agricultural area, unlike, for example, Lijevče or Semberija. At the same time, unlike these areas, Krajina has enormous tourism potential, particularly in its rural communities. This is precisely where we see an opportunity to connect local production, gastronomy, nature and tourism,” says Petar Ninić of the Agricultural Cluster “Krajina” for SeeSrpska.

GET TO KNOW KRAJINA – A JOURNEY TAILORED TO EVERY GUEST

One of the Cluster’s most interesting projects is the digital platform “Get to Know Krajina”, which brings together the region’s tourism, gastronomy and natural attractions in one place.

The idea is that visitors do not have to choose just one destination or activity, but can create their own journey. Using the platform’s tools, they can combine a trip into nature with local gastronomy, visits to farms and the purchase of locally produced food.

“You can visit Balkana, have trout for lunch, visit several farms, buy homemade cheese, flour, rakija or honey, take a walk around Manjača and combine all of this into a single trip. We want to present Krajina as a place where different experiences naturally connect with one another,” representatives of the Krajina Cluster explain.

The platform is designed as a “living project” that will constantly be expanded with new content, producers, tourism offers and technical possibilities.

A TRADITION PASSED DOWN TO NEW GENERATIONS

An important part of the story is preserving Krajina’s heritage – traditional crafts, skills, gastronomy and local products.

“The best way to preserve something is to talk about it and constantly put the traditions, crafts and products of Krajina in the spotlight. One of the best ways to preserve traditional crafts is to organise workshops for young people,” Ninić says.

The Cluster therefore organises workshops in Zmijanje embroidery, grafting and other traditional skills, while a blacksmithing workshop is also planned, focusing on the traditional production of scythes and similar tools.

When it comes to gastronomy, the Cluster visits local producers and documents their stories and ways of working, which are then presented to the market through storytelling. The aim is for a product to be more than just a product – for it to carry the story of the person, family and region it comes from.

BY BIKE, THROUGH LOCAL FOOD AND THE SPIRIT OF KRAJINA

The Cluster is working to make the region’s tourism offer appealing to different generations, particularly young people and families. Alongside traditional activities, it is therefore developing modern experiences such as the “Cycling Through Krajina” tour.

Work is also underway to promote local rakija and develop the idea of a Krajina Rakija Trail, while the workshops are attracting more and more visitors, with places being booked in advance.

“People are longing to spend time outdoors, surrounded by people who carry the spirit of Krajina, to enjoy quality homemade food, discover extraordinary natural landscapes and have their own moment of zen in today’s fast-paced, multitasking world,” representatives of the Cluster say.

That is why Krajina is increasingly being seen as a destination that should not simply be visited, but truly experienced.

WHY SHOULDN’T KRAJINA BE KNOWN FOR ITS OWN PRODUCTS?

Local products have a much greater role in this story than simply being sold. They are becoming part of the tourist experience.

“Gastronomy is an essential part of tourism, while rural tourism is unimaginable without food and local products. Alongside its natural and cultural heritage, Krajina is particularly rich in traditional gastronomy, and this deserves special attention,” Ninić says.

Krajina can therefore build its tourism identity around what it already has – meadow honey, Savka plum rakija, mushrooms, medicinal herbs, cheese and kajmak from Šipovo, as well as many other local products.

“When you look at tourism offers around the region and the world, you will see entire regions that are recognised precisely for their cheese, wine, prosciutto, grapes and similar products. Why shouldn’t Krajina be known for meadow honey, Savka plum rakija, mushrooms, medicinal herbs, cheese and kajmak from Šipovo? All the answers and models already exist. What matters is that we turn to ourselves and our own people and abandon the idea that somewhere else is always better and more beautiful.”

“TOK FEST” – KRAJINA IN ONE PLACE

All these activities are set to come together this autumn at the “Along the Trails of Krajina – TOK Fest” fair, which will be held in Mrkonjić Grad.

The aim is for it to be more than another traditional fair – it is envisioned as a lively, interactive event where visitors will be able to taste local specialities, learn how to tie fishing flies, discover the technique of Zmijanje embroidery, taste rakija from Mrkonjić Grad, explore the tourism offer of Krajina’s municipalities and take part in the “Mushroom Days” event.

“Our plan is to create a lively, interactive event where visitors can taste local specialities, learn how to tie fishing flies and make Zmijanje embroidery, taste rakija from Mrkonjić Grad, discover the tourism offer of Krajina’s municipalities, take part in the ‘Mushroom Days’ and much more.”

A KRAJINA BOOKING

The long-term ambition of the Agricultural Cluster “Krajina” goes a step further.

“Our long-term goal is to become synonymous with the organisation of rural tourism in Krajina – a service that could become a kind of ‘Krajina Booking’. But not simply as a platform presenting tourism offers and connecting supply and demand. We want to directly participate in the development of rural tourism in Krajina by designing and implementing dedicated projects and activities and supporting all initiatives that take a sound approach to this sector.”

In this vision, Krajina is not simply a place people pass through. It becomes a destination where nature and homemade food, tradition and modern tourism, producers and visitors come together.

And perhaps that is where its greatest potential lies – in transforming what has been part of everyday life for generations into an experience that new visitors will want to discover, taste and experience again.

Author: Anđelka Marković