Walking through the streets of central Belgrade, one can see more and more visitors every day. Many move in groups, following tour guides who tell stories about the city. Friends of mine who have long worked in tourism say that Serbia is now attracting travelers from many different cultures and backgrounds. They differ in age, education, habits, and expectations. Some arrive in organized groups. Others travel on their own. Many, my friends say, are just passing through. Serbia is only one of several stops on their journey. They usually stay a few days before moving on. With that in mind, I imagine how difficult it must be for a tour guide to tell a story that speaks to everyone. It must be even harder to stay genuinely enthusiastic—or at least to appear while repeating the same stories again and again.
Of course, no tour guide can make every story entertaining for everyone. But they must tell it in a way that keeps people awake and engaged as they walk through the city. When I pass by groups of tourists, I often overhear historical facts or short anecdotes about famous figures. I wonder how much of that the tourists actually understand. As a recently licensed tour guide myself, with years of experience working with foreigners across the Balkans through my work with American Councils, I often ask myself what these visitors really want to know. What do they take away from stories about people like Mika Alas, for example?
A story doesn’t have to be interesting to everyone. But it must never be boring. That’s something I learned from my American colleagues and the many Americans I’ve worked with over the past sixteen years. It may sound like a generalization, but I believe that a key part of American education and culture is learning how to engage people. Yet, we often hear that Americans know little about the rest of the world. This may be partly true, still the generalization calls for caution. In my experience, most Americans I’ve met came to the Balkans with at least some knowledge about the region. Of course, I’ve also met those who knew little about us and weren’t especially interested. That’s fine — it simply wasn’t their focus (interestingly, I often found those less interested visitors the most fascinating; their impressions were the most spontaneous and honest).
What I wish to say is that Americans visiting Belgrade, Serbia, and the Balkans are remarkably diverse in what they know and what they seek. It’s impossible to find a single common denominator. Yet a few things unite them, I think. They appreciate good service. They tend to leave generous tips — something I’ve often seen and heard about. And above all, at least in my experience, they remember people. Many told me that the stories that stay with them are those told by people who made an impression. They remembered the storytellers. And I believe this holds true not only for Americans, but also for visitors from other countries and cultures. That is exactly why we invite you to join our ARC Storytelling Cultural Heritage Workshops — a space to explore how stories bring people and places to life.
Slaviša Raković,
Country Director of American Councils for International Education in Serbia
