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Branko Rabotic...

guiding around the Fortress...

... the 2006 candidates applying for licenses as tourist guides



A friendly face in a strange city! 


I recommend getting in touch with Branko Rabotic, a well known local tour guide. Branko offers all sorts of fascinating tours, and there's really no substitute for having a local show you round and tell you about the history, recent times etc. Have a browse. When you listen to Branko it makes you think how such a cultured and intelligent man could have been produced by (in media eyes) a violent society. Lonely Planet, Thorn Tree Forum, posted by John75: 10/21/2002

With Branko, I had the expertise of an experienced guide, the hospitality of a true Belgradian and the dedication of a sudden friend. He is the right guy for Belgrade!  
J. Sampaio, Portugal, 06/01/2003



Belgrade Sightseeing
is a specialized and personalized Web-based reservation service for tour guide and other travel related services in Belgrade & Serbia. It aims to help all visitors to Belgrade, but especially individual travelers by providing them with various travel services on the spot. The program has been carefully designed and launched by Mr. Branko Rabotic MA, one of the most experienced and highly-educated tourist guides and heritage interpreters in Belgrade. He is officially-licensed and has an extensive background as a travel agent. 

(Some services offered in this program are provided in cooperation with reliable local tour operators and travel agencies).

 

 Personal Data: BRANKO RABOTIC, PhD

Branko Rabotic is a regular member of the Tourist Guides Association of Serbia (UTVS). 
He guides in English, Greek and Serbian and is currently based in Belgrade 


1 | Education

PhD dissertation titled "Tourist Guiding in Contemporary Tourism" successfully defended on December 24, 2009 at Belgrade's Singidunum University, Department of Postgraduate Studies (see photo);

MA degree at Belgrade University (1982) with a Master's thesis entitled "The Role of Travel Agencies in the Process of Tourism Development in Yugoslavia";

BA degree at Belgrade University (1977), Faculty of Tourism Sciences;

Took a special course and the examination for professional tour guides of Serbia (1975), and holds 
the official Guide License issued by the Ministry of Tourism;


2 | Professional experience

Created (with his colleague) and conducts a special program of regularly scheduled cultural walking tours of Belgrade, including a BELGRADE FORTRESS tour since 06/28/1998 and an OLD TOWN OF BELGRADE tour since 06/26/1999. These tours, sponsored by the municipality of Old Town, are conducted to better inform the citizens of Belgrade, especially the youngsters, about the city's cultural heritage, and to promote a wider interest for cultural monuments generally.

Initiated and conducted a cultural tour of Yugoslav tourists to Lebanon, the first one after the civil war in that country (1997);

Founded and managed for six years the "Sun Ways" travel agency in Belgrade, specializing in Greek destinations (Athens Cultural Tour, Archaeological & Classical tours, Island hopping etc) 1993-1999;

Employed by the "Yugotours" tour operating company (Outgoing tourism department), 1978;

Traveled frequently (1975-1992) to various European countries and cities (especially Greece) as a professional tour manager for various Yugoslav travel agencies;

Conducted and guided, as a freelancer, numerous groups from Soviet Union on a "Grand tour of Yugoslavia" (1975-76);

Wrote for various student newspapers published in Ljubljana, Skopje, Pristina and Sarajevo as a Belgrade based correspondent-journalist (1974-75);


3 | Academic experience / Contributions

Participated as invited speaker in the 2010 International Congress 'Regional Cooperation in Tourism of South-East Europe', Portoroz (Slovenia) with his lecture: Destination management: The role of domicile tourist guiding in the development of tourist destinations (June, 2010);
 

Participated in the 2010 International Congress 'Tourism and Hospitality Industry 2010: New Trends in Tourism and Hospitality Management', Opatija (Croatia) with his paper: Tourist Guides in the 21st century: The Role of Interpretation in the Construction of Tourist Experiences (May, 2010).
 

Participated in the 2010 International Conference 'Sustainable Tourism: Issues, Debates and Challenges'', Heraklion & Santorini (Greece) with his paper: Tourist Guiding From the Perspective of Sustainable Tourism (April, 2010).
 

Participated in the 2010 International Conference 'Tourism and Environment', Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina) with his paper: The Role of the Tourist Guide in Contemporary Tourism (March, 2010). READ THE PAPER 561KB.

 

Participated in the 2009 International Conference 'Cities as Creative Spaces for Cultural Tourism', Istanbul (Turkey) with his paper: The Creative Role of Tourist Guiding (November, 2009).

 

Participated in the 2008 International Conference on Culture and Event Tourism: Issues & Debates, Alanya (Turkey) with his paper: Tourist Guides as Cultural Heritage Interpreters: Belgrade Experience with Municipality-sponsored Guided Walks for Local Residents (November 2008). READ THE PAPER 190KB.


Appointed as Lecturer in The Business of Travel Agency at the Belgrade College of Tourism from October 1, 2008.


Participated in the Third Biennial International Congress HOTELPLAN 2007 (Congress Session: Education, Informatics and Communication) with his paper: Tourist Guides as Mediators in Cultural Tourism, Belgrade, November 23/254.

Engaged in the project "Education of the labor force in tourism: Travel Agency Operations; Tourist Destination Management" (sponsored by Ministry of
Trade, Tourism and Services and organized by the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management) with a series of lectures on the themes: Tourist Guides: Potential for Improving the Quality of Serbia's Tourism Offer and Tourist Guiding and the Destination - Visitors interaction (March-October 2007);


Authored the guidebook "Belgrade Fortress in Your Hands", published in Serbian 2006.
 

Appointed by Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Services (2006) as lecturer in the course for candidates applying for licenses as tourist guides at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management (Singidunum University, Belgrade), for the subject “Tourist Guiding: Skills and Practices”
 

Taught at Belgrade University as Assistant Professor  (1978-1991). Main subjects included: tour operators and travel agency operations, travel and tour arrangements, travel and tourism marketing;
 

Authored and co-authored tourism-related articles and publications.

Engaged in various research projects at the Institute for Tourism, Belgrade University to study the organization and promotion of tourism and tourist trade practices;
 

Authored the preliminary feasibility study prior to the establishment of the "Jugopetrol" travel agency in
Belgrade (1989);
 

Gave additional lectures on 'Travel agency operations' and examined candidates, applying for licenses as tourist guides (1978-1989);

Visited Greece (Athens and Rhodes) to participate in a bilateral program for tourism researchers and professional exchange, sponsored by the Greek Ministry of Coordination (1980);

 

4 | Awards

 

2005 TOURIST FLOWER AWARD for Excellence in Tourism in the Tourist Guides category (The award is given by National Tourism Organization of Serbia). 


 

BELGRADE: THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE
ABOUT OUR SERVICE:
"Belgrade Sightseeing is a tourist service headed by Branko Rabotic, a licensed guide who speaks English, Serbian and Greek. Mr. Rabotic is very knowledgeable about Belgrade's history and organises a range of private tours and city walks, as well as multi-day excursions further into the Serbian countryside.... (December, 2005)

 

SERBIA: THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE
ABOUT OUR SERVICE:
"Belgrade Sightseeing is a tour guide service run by Branko Rabotic, a Belgrade-based polymath, who offers a wide range of year-round itineraries, from a three-hour walking tour of the capital to a week-long monastery tour of central Serbia... Belgrade Sightseeing provides an efficiently run tourist service... Mr. Rabotic is an experienced and knowledgeable guide... He hosts an informative website... (March, 2005)

..

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER ('Belgrade Rising' by Amy Alipio)
As Belgrade's local guide, Mr. Branko Rabotic is quoted in the world's most widely read travel magazine  - Volume 19, Number 5, July-August, 2002

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IN YOUR POCKET CITY GUIDES BELGRADE ON-LINE GUIDE
ABOUT OUR SERVICE:

"Mr. Branko Rabotic is somewhat of a local legend in the tourist industry, offering different walking/car/bus tours of Belgrade or other parts of Yugoslavia (the monasteries, Vojvodina, Topola/Oplenac), as well as upkeeping a good website about Belgrade. Tours are conducted in English, Greek and Serbian..." (February, 2002)

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Belgrade Sightseeing

 

BELGRADE SIGHTSEEING / BRANKO RABOTIC PhD
Phone/fax: (++38111) 386.11.53, GSM: (++38163) 854.26.48 
(Calls to GSM from inside Serbia: 063 854.26.48)
E mail: rabotic@EUnet.rs  URL: http://www.belgradetours.com/