Serbia's tourism chief flies to London this week to promote his country just 20 months after Nato unleashed a bombing campaign on Belgrade and other key sites. Dr Jovan Popesku's visit to the World Travel Market at Earl's Court follows the ousting of President Slobodan Milosevic on 5 October and the readmission of Yugoslavia to the UN.

Popesku, director of the Serbian National Tourist Office, will tell travel company executives: 'Tourism can play a key role in driving business to our hard-hit economy by creating jobs and generating foreign revenue.' The former Yugoslavia was popular with British visitors, particularly for lakes and mountain holidays. These form part of Popesku's strategy with a focus, too, on Serbia's several hundred health resorts. He will promote city breaks in Belgrade, cruising on the Danube and skiing. The ski resort of Kopaonik was featured by Thomson and First Choice until two seasons ago.

Belgrade seems an unlikely destination for a short break after the heavy bombing of March 1999. But Serbian officials insist that most of the bridges across the Danube have been reconstructed and that the city's cafe society, shopping and opera house are back to normal. Curiosity will be another factor. State airline JAT flies five times a week from Heathrow to Belgrade while British Airways has three weekly flights from Gatwick.

Neighbouring Montenegro, which is seeking independence from Serbia, is already promoting tourism to its coastal resorts and its mountains. Upmarket companies such as Steppes East feature the exclusive medieval village of Sveti Stephan.

Why Greece is the Med's hottest spot

Greece and Cyprus were the holiday hotspots of summer 2000, says tour operator Thomson Holidays. While Spain remained the favourite choice for package holidaymakers, the Greek-speaking Mediterranean gained largely as a result of the drop in the numbers visiting Turkey.

Greece came second to Spain, which was visited by 3.8 million British holidaymakers - about 45 per cent of the total last summer. Some 1.5 million packages to Greece were sold, a rise of 9 per cent while Cyprus came third with 500,000, a rise of 15 per cent. Turkey still came fourth with 400,000 packages sold, a drop of 27 per cent. Early bookings were hit by bomb threats from Kurdish rebels, which were never fulfilled. Earthquakes in Istanbul contributed to the later fall. Portugal came fifth with a drop from 410,00 to 380,000.