Rafting, paragliding, guided hiking in Republika Srpska: who may lead guests

The new Law on Tourism of Republika Srpska replaced the 2017 law and has a separate section on tourist services that include sport and recreation. It applies to anyone who takes guests onto a river, into a canyon, up a mountain or into the air and charges for it.

In short

• Only companies and sole traders may offer the services in Article 57 commercially. A person without registration may work as a tourist animator and plan sport and leisure programmes for guests (Article 48), but must be entered in the register before starting. Even then, the animator may not sell the services listed in Article 57 on their own.
• The provider must employ qualified staff such as instructors, trainers or skippers, trained under the sports law. For rafting this is a skipper who has passed the professional exam and holds the certificate.
• Before the activity the guest gets written and oral information on the risks and signs a statement accepting them. Guests under 18 may take part only with the consent of a parent or guardian.
• When the provider organises the activity, it must insure guests against the consequences of an accident.
• Fines run from 1,500 to 15,000 KM for a legal entity and from 1,000 to 5,000 KM for an individual acting as the qualified person or skipper.

Who it applies to

The law lists rafting, kayak, canoe, timber-raft floating (splavarenje) and canyoning on wild water, as well as sport climbing, paragliding, cave exploration, diving and cave diving, cycling and mountain biking, alpinism, mountain guiding, rope and parachute jumping, hiking, trekking, hydrospeed, dayak boat (canoe) trips and "similar activities". The list is not exhaustive.

Horse riding is not named. Before you start, ask the Ministarstvo trgovine i turizma (Ministry of Trade and Tourism) whether paid horse rides count as a "similar activity". Do not assume they do. Accommodation and farm activities are governed by other rules; see the article on hosting guests on a farm.

What to do

1. Register as a sole trader or as a company. A sole trader gets the registration decision from the municipality or city. For a company you file the application with APIF, in person, by post or online, and the competent registration court decides on the entry. You may not start before you are registered (Article 16).
2. Employ a licensed professional. The law requires the qualified staff to be employed by the provider (Article 57). For rafting the skipper needs a licence from a sports federation, a certificate of a passed first-aid exam, at least secondary school, active knowledge of one foreign language and a pass in the professional exam before a Ministry commission (Article 60). The skipper must also be a citizen of BiH or, for a foreigner, have registered temporary residence in BiH. The candidate pays the exam fee, which is one quarter of the previous year's lowest net salary in Republika Srpska. Check the current amount with the Ministry. Nobody without the skipper certificate may run commercial rafting. Services on rivers are also subject to the inland navigation law (Article 57).
3. If you offer rafting, after registration file a request with the Ministry to be entered in the electronic tourism register (Article 89). For other activities the Ministry takes the data on registered businesses from APIF. A tourist animator, an individual who runs sport and leisure programmes, must apply for entry before starting work (Article 48).
4. Keep equipment in good order and maintain it to the applicable standards.
5. Before every trip, give the guest written and oral information on the risks, explain the insured cases in the policy and collect the guest's signed statement. For minors you also need a parent's consent.
6. Refuse a guest who is clearly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or who is in a condition that could endanger themselves or others. Alcohol is forbidden during the activity (Article 58).

Before the start, the qualified person prepares a safety report and a trip plan and checks the guests' equipment. They inform the authorities of any accident. They keep a log of every service (Article 59).

Deadlines and amounts

• The law was published in the Službeni glasnik RS (Official Gazette) no. 49/26 of 2 June 2026 and has been in force since 10 June 2026 (Article 119). The deadline for businesses to comply ends around 10 December 2026 (Article 113).
• The minister must issue the rulebook on minimum technical conditions for rafting by around 10 March 2027, nine months after the law entered into force. Until then, earlier rulebooks apply where they do not conflict with the new law (Articles 116 and 117).
• Fines for a legal entity: 3,000 to 15,000 KM if it has no licensed staff, does not maintain equipment, does not inform guests of risks or does not insure them. Other breaches cost 1,500 to 7,500 KM, for example not explaining the insured cases (Article 110).
• The responsible person in a company: 1,000 to 5,000 KM for the more serious breaches and 800 to 4,000 KM for the lesser ones (Article 110, paragraph 3).
• An individual acting as the qualified person or skipper: 1,000 to 5,000 KM, for example for working as a skipper without the certificate, for a missing log or safety report, or for serving an intoxicated guest (Article 111).
• A sole trader pays 3,000 to 15,000 KM for working without the registration decision (Article 105, paragraph 3), 2,000 to 10,000 KM for not informing guests of risks and not insuring them, having no licensed staff or not maintaining equipment (Article 106, paragraph 3), and 1,000 to 5,000 KM, for example for not explaining the insured cases or breaching Article 58 or 61 (Article 107, paragraph 3).
• If the same business repeats an offence under Article 110 or 111 within two years of the final decision, a ban on tourism activity of up to 90 days is added to the fine (Article 112).

Where to go

• Ministarstvo trgovine i turizma Republike Srpske (Ministry of Trade and Tourism): register entry, the skipper exam, and advice on whether your activity is covered.
• The local administration (in Trebinje the city administration): sole trader registration.
• APIF, Agencija za posredničke, informatičke i finansijske usluge (Agency for Intermediary, IT and Financial Services): company registration applications.

Laws and sources

• Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske no. 49/26 of 2.6.2026, publication of the Law on Tourism
• Zakon o turizmu, Law on Tourism (Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske no. 49/26), Articles 15, 16, 48, 57 to 60, 89, 105 to 119, official text on the website of the Ministry of Trade and Tourism
• Law on Registration of Business Entities in Republika Srpska (Službeni glasnik RS no. 67/13, 15/16, 84/19 and 1/26), Articles 6 and 7