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On October 6th, the Gold Gondola hosted a high delegation of the Russian Federation led by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yuri Borisov. In addition to a high-ranking official from Russia, the delegation also included the Minister of Innovation and Technological Development Nenad Popovic, as well as the Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia Alexander Bocan Kharchenko. The delegation that will participate in the 19th session of the International Serbian-Russian Committee for Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation a day later, had the opportunity to see the tourist potential and natural beauties of the Zlatibor district, as well as enjoy the gastronomic specialties of our region. As always, the Zlatibor gondola is an unavoidable attraction during every visit to Zlatibor. With adequate security measures, which we are used to when it comes to visits at this level, the guests from Russia went to the highest peak of Zlatibor - Tornik in the presence of a large number of journalists from all major media in Serbia, who followed this visit with great attention. As a reminder, the Municipality of Cajetina, six years ago, established the first, and for now the only, regional Office for Cooperation with Russia, as a type of service for businessmen from the Zlatibor district for their more organized appearance on the Russian market.

From the cabins of the "Gold Gondola", the longest panoramic cable car in the world, thousands of people are enjoying the most beautiful views of Zlatibor this summer. The extraordinary beauty opens in front of their eyes, the beauty of the undulating plateau, clearings and hills, Ribnica Lake and the highest peak of Zlatibor - Tornik. The project we have been dreaming about so much, working on it for years and finalize it at the end, now makes many people happy and satisfied. And it was not easy for us to realize that idea. The municipality of Cajetina entered this largest investment, worth 13.5 million euros, bravely and decisively, in favor of the development of Zlatibor tourism and the progress of the entire region. Similar determination and steadfastness was required by the realization: from the initial idea in 2008 and entering the preparations, through the procurement of imported equipment and the beginning of works in 2017, all the way to construction temptations in the field and the fight against bureaucracy to obtain building permits. We did not give up on any challenge, nor did we stop in front of any problem - a solution has always been found. We rejoiced as children, very happy with what we achieved, when at the beginning of this year, the "Gold Gondola" was completed and began to transport passengers. Whose interest in driving is still in a high level. High above Zlatibor in one of the 55 cabins of the cable car, in 25 minutes to the top of Tornik and so much more in return. Over the past seven months, the gondola has carried a total of about 160,000 passengers. I must admit that we did not expect that number when we projected the budget and the number of passengers for the first year of operation. We have already doubled the figure that was planned at the beginning of the year. And only seven months have passed. I am proud of such results, but not surprised - even at the beginning of the preparations for the project, we who participated in it secretly believed in this success of the longest panoramic cable car in the world. Indeed, the "Gold Gondola" brought us a new experience, valuable tourist content, but also significant economic benefits. It generated many new investments, attracted numerous tourists from Serbia and abroad (and from distant India, Russian cosmonauts and others), started catering activities ... Zlatibor took a "seven-mile step" on the tourist map of Europe with a gondola. It contributes to the economic development not only of Cajetina and the region of western Serbia, but also of the entire country. Along with several other important projects, which we intend to realize in the next period, the "golden mountain" will achieve an ambitious goal - to have 10 million overnight stays and one million tourists annually. It is on that path: the most valuable pages of its tourism are being printed with an increasing number of visitors and a more comprehensive offer. To this progress, our gondola, a project of national importance, gives the wind in its sails, tirelessly sailing the Zlatibor expanses. And I am grateful to everyone who worked on that great project and believed in it. The text was published in the Electronic Newspaper of Zlatibor, August 2021.

Today, the Gold Gondola hosted the Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and his colleague Anastasia Stepanova, as well as Alyona Kuzmenko, the president of the humanitarian organization "Unity" and her associates. Sergei Kud-Sverchkov spent 185 days on the International Space Station, that he returned from on April 17th. Serbia is the first country he visits after his stay in space. Anastasia Stepanova is a researcher at the Institute for Biomedical Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who is actively preparing for the trip to Mars. This, the first visit of an active Russian cosmonaut to Serbia after 52 years, was organized by the Post of Serbia in order to fulfill the wish of children suffering from cancer. Children from Serbia are organized by the Foundation "Together for Youth - Prof. Dr. Danica Grujicic ", as the authors of 34 works of art, participated in the international program of the State Corporation of the Russian Federation for Space Activities" Roscosmos "and the Russian humanitarian organization "Unity " which provides psychological support to cancer patients. Their dreams, transformed into a space suit, were taken to the International Space Station by Russian cosmonauts. During the gondola ride, the guests from Russia mostly commented on the beauties of Zlatibor's landscapes, and they were impressed by the length of the route, as well as the hospitality and warmth with which they were welcomed and sent off everywhere in Serbia, especially on Zlatibor. They unanimously expressed their desire to come again during the winter and enjoy skiing and the magical winter ambience.

The Zlatibor gondola continues to break records in a year that certainly cannot be a benchmark for successful business. Even with reduced capacity, in difficult conditions burdened by increasingly strict epidemiological measures, the gondola transported a huge number of passengers, with an even greater number of those who had the desire, but did not have the opportunity to try this attraction, but had to postpone the adventure. With a great start and the expectedly visited seasonal part of January and February, the gondola sailed into the also expected, calmer March. However, just as January and February completely exceeded all expectations in terms of interest and the number of transported passengers, the same happened in March, when we also did not expect such a visit. March, which is uncharacteristically cold this year and when it was expected that due to weather conditions the interest would be considerably reduced, did not drastically reduce the visit. The month, which is traditionally considered to be the least visited month on Zlatibor, also surprised with the overall interest in the gondola, and the number of transported passengers practically did not fall below 200. As things stand, the only thing that can significantly affect the visit in the future, even during the off-season months are the current epidemiological measures that, of all the winter months, marked March the most. The month traditionally dedicated to the ladies, on their date, March 8, the gondola marked with one beautiful little gesture. The management of the "Gold Gondola" decided to give all the ladies a free ride on International Women's Day, and this small token of attention, which was warmly received and attracted great interest, attracted as many as 440 ladies who took the opportunity to enjoy their day ride. In addition to the technical part of the business, the marketing part was not neglected, so these days we had the opportunity to host the famous music star from this area Ivana Selakov, who expressed a desire to record a video for her new song on our gondola. With a great desire to help her in that, we hosted Ivana and her team and with the assistance of our employees, we enabled her to do the job as professionally as possible. In anticipation of her new video, which we believe will have a lot of viewers, we hope that this is just the beginning of a nice collaboration with celebrities, as well as the initial capsule for many more such or similar projects, which will greatly contribute to the affirmation of gondolas and and the whole of Zlatibor on the tourist market of Serbia and beyond. Finally, it should be mentioned that the first technical control of the installation, which is already scheduled for April 1, is expected for the Gold Gondola, and it is expected that all works related to this control will be completed in ten days. During that period, technicians of "Pome", a French manufacturer and supplier of equipment, with the assistance of gondola workers, will perform a quarterly and six-month inspection of all stations and complete routes, with certain minor adjustments, if necessary. The dynamics of the works is planned in such a way that all the works will be completed in the first half of April, so that the gondola will be ready to welcome the Easter holidays and a large number of tourists that Zlatibor will host in that period.

A long-awaited and announced attraction - the Zlatibor Gold Gondola started working exactly a month ago, on January 11th, 2021, and transported its first passengers. Now, in anticipation of Sretenje, we have decided to do a small retrospective of the first month of work. The installation has already greatly exceeded all expectations, and has transported over 30,000 passengers in these months. The best indicator is the huge queues and unprecedented interest that have reigned since the first day, which gives great satisfaction to the management of "Gold Gondola", the Municipal Administration, as well as all others who believed in the success of this important project. From the early morning hours of January 11th, patient travelers, together with a large number of journalist teams looking for an opportunity for their exclusive story, waited for the moment to set off in the cabin of the "Gold Gondola" to the top of Tornik across Ribnica Lake. There was practically no media that did not publish the news about the opening of the Zlatibor gondola in those days. All the biggest television and media houses broadcast an exclusive story from the scene, and the number of followers on social networks increased many times as soon as the first announcements, recordings and pictures from the booths started. On that day, all the doubts, uncertainties and anxieties that accompanied this project for a long time and opened the way to complete success and the triumph of will, perseverance and persistence were finally dispelled. Neither the cold weather nor the large queues ruined the enthusiasm and patience of many tourists who did not give up in order to be among the first passengers of this unusual installation. Only the grand opening and the ceremony that accompanied it were held three days later. After an extremely cold and snowy day, the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, several ministers and high officials, representatives of the local community, as well as many other guests, guests and friends of Zlatibor and the municipality of Cajetina set off. During all these days, there was an unprecedented interest, which in a way justified, and even exceeded the highest expectations. Already on the first day, about 1,200 tickets were sold in just 4 hours of gondola operation. In the days after that, ticket sales stopped before the end of working hours because the current number of tickets exceeded the planned daily capacity, largely reduced due to compliance with epidemiological measures. The cabins are planned for a maximum of 10 passengers and a total of 600 passengers per hour, and due to the already mentioned epidemiological measures, the capacity of the cabins had to be reduced to 4 passengers per gondola and 240 passengers per hour. The number of passengers ranged from 1,000 on a daily basis, up to 2,000 on weekends when it is most crowded. The biggest crowds are on weekends, when up to twenty thousand tourists stay on Zlatibor, and the ride is stopped only by a strong wind that sometimes blows on the mountain, because at wind speeds of over 20m / s, it is estimated that the weather conditions do not meet safety minimum. The management of the PE "Gold Gondola Zlatibor" and the municipality of Cajetina have not forgotten all those locals who gave their contribution during the Zlatibor mob to contribute to the realization of this dream. They were provided with a permanent discount, and on a couple of occasions they had the opportunity to ride for free, when this privilege was used by several thousand locals of Cajetina, and this unique and unusual attraction in our country inspired young Romantic knights to propose to their princesses. in the cabin of the Gold Gondola, as Milan Cvetković did by proposing to Bojana Đorđević. On the wings of this great success, the very future of the "Gold Gondola" looks bright, with a realistic expectation that the investment itself will be paid off as soon as possible. Given the great interest that currently reigns, the management of the gondola and the Municipal Administration plan to purchase the additional 35 cabins. In addition to this, a number of investments are planned, such as the second branch of the gondola to the second highest peak of Čigota, the construction of the "Golden City" on Ribnica Lake, as well as additional content within the "Gold Gondola" system, which will make our company the backbone new tourist offers of Zlatibor, which is in line with modern world tourist trends.

The interest of Zlatibor tourists in the "Gold Gondola" ride exceeds expectations. At the departure station in the center of this tourist place, from where the gondolas go to the top of Tornik about 30 minutes of ride), there are lines of people who have been patiently waiting to ride the longest panoramic cable car in the world every day since the grand opening (January 14th). The “Gold gondola” attracts young and old, families with children, skiers, lovers of views from above. Every day, the number of its passengers is more than a thousand, and that brings good earnings (the price of a ticket is 1000 for adults and 550 dinars for children 550). According to the data of the PE "Gold Gondola Zlatibor", in less than half a month of operation of the panoramic cable car, about 16,000 people enjoyed its ride. These days among the passengers of the “Gold gondola” were two foreign ambassadors. On the occasion of its opening, the ambassadors of Egypt and the Czech Republic in Serbia, Amr Alguvejli and Tomas Kuhta, visited Zlatibor. They rode a panoramic cable car, stayed at the "Tornik" Ski Center, and the Tourist Organization of Zlatibor organized trips for these diplomats to Stopića Cave and Gostilje Waterfalls. According to the website of Tourist Organization of Zlatibor, Ambassador Kuhta stated that Serbia has excellent potentials for tourism and it is very brave that investments have continued in these times of pandemic. According to the Egyptian ambassador, his country traditionally has sincere and friendly relations with Serbia: - Last year, Egypt participated in the Belgrade Tourism Fair for the first time as a partner country and will continue to implement ambitious plans when it comes to tourism expansion - said Ambassador Alguvejli. Communication and proposals for cooperation of Egyptian investors with the municipality of Cajetina in the field of health care, which includes the center "Cigota" and similar specialized wellness centers in Sinai. Source: “Politika”

The most valuable investment of the municipality of Cajetina, the Gold Gondola Zlatibor, was solemnly put into operation yesterday with a big ceremony, as befits such an important project. The visit of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, several ministers, the Secretary of State, the Ambassador of the French Republic, representatives of the municipal government, contractors, all participants in the project and other friends of Zlatibor and the municipality of Čajetina speaks volumes about its importance. Even the winter atmosphere with extremely low temperatures and a real snowstorm did not prevent a large number of people from wanting to attend this ceremony. After the welcome speeches, plays, speeches by the President of the Municipality of Cajetina, Milan Stamatovic and the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who then officially launched the Zlatibor Gold Gondola with his first ride, all those present were invited to go by gondola ride and enjoy the magical winter ambience. The management of the municipality of Cajetina and the PE "Gold Gondola Zlatibor" have not forgotten the great contribution of their fellow citizens who participated in the past years and helped the realization of this project by permanently providing them with a preferential ticket price.

The Zlatibor gondola, the biggest and the most valuable investment of the Municipality of Cajetina ever, was successfully put into operation today.Today's cold Zlatibor morning dispelled all the doubt, uncertainty and anticipation that had been spent in recent days together with the first snow of this year. With the recognizable sound of the siren, the cables started lowering the first gondolas from the middle station, ready to receive passengers who have been patiently waiting in line since the early morning hours to grab their piece of Zlatibor's history. A large number of journalist teams waited for the opportunity for their exclusive story directly. Despite the large deposits of snow that formed during the night, but also the extremely low night temperatures that made it difficult to start the installation, the gondola workers managed to overcome all obstacles and the long-awaited attraction could start. After receiving the passengers and leaving the starting station, the gondola cabin accelerates by driving passengers towards the Tornik Hotel, providing passengers with a panoramic view of the entire resort. Grabbing the route to the intermediate station, passengers will enjoy the beautiful landscape of Ribnica Lake in winter, and then comes the last, steepest stage of the road, climb to the top Tornik and pass through the foggy winter veil and frozen pines along the entire route and a view no one can remain indifferent. Because of that, passengers do not have the feeling that the ride to the roof of Zlatibor takes about 30 minutes. With the first steps of this long-announced mega installation, Zlatibor is writing another far more important page in its history. As of today, it will be written in the Guinness Book of Records that the Gold Gondola Zlatibor is currently the longest panoramic gondola in the world, removing the Chinese gondola Tianmen Shun from the throne, exceeding its route by as much as 1.6 km. This fact, in addition to the enthronement of Zlatibor on the tourist map of Europe, will greatly contribute to the affirmation of Serbia and its overall tourist potential.