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Türkiye’s iconic Cappadocia balloon tours expand to Serbia

Published

4 months ago

June 1, 2023

The hot air balloon tours characteristic of Türkiye’s tourist spot Cappadocia, which earned a place on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List with its historical, cultural and natural marvels, are expanding to the Serbian northern Indjija area through a new project, the Turkish ambassador to Serbia announced Wednesday.

Ahead of the start of tours, which according to the reports are expected to commence as of June 1, the event hosted by the Turkish Embassy in Belgrade was held with the participation of pilots from Türkiye.

Speaking at the reception, Türkiye’s ambassador to Belgrade, Hami Aksoy, stated that an extremely exciting project has been brought to life and said, “Tomorrow, the first balloon from Cappadocia will take off in the skies of Indjija.”

Aksoy noted that all the balloons were brought from Cappadocia and highlighted the strong interest in Türkiye from Serbia, with over 360,000 Serbian tourists visiting last year.

Milan Bogojevic, director of the Indjija Municipality Tourism Office, emphasized that a new chapter in the shared history between the two countries was being written, adding: “One of the biggest tourist attractions is now in Serbia. We aim to fly 100,000 people annually with seven balloons.”

The organizers, promoting the project as “Serbian Cappadocia” on social media, stated that Indjija is situated one hour away from the capital Belgrade, and announced that the balloon tours would take place at 7 p.m. local time on weekdays and in the early morning hours on weekends.

Following a successful test flight, the Indjija Municipality Tourism Office will provide guides for balloon tours and inform visitors about the best places for taking photos.