Who fed and treated participants and guests of tennis tournament Serbia Open 2009?

The first big tennis tournament in Serbia - Serbia Open 2009 - is now behind us. The guests went their homes satisfied, the hosts have already started to count down the days until the next Serbia Open. Spectators and participants had the feeling that everything was going as planned, but all those "important" actors who deserved all the praises following the end of the tournament were nowhere to be seen.

The editorial staff of "eKapija" wanted to present some of the important actors, so we spoke to Sandra Igrić, the Finance Director, and Jusuf Kamber, the Director of F&B Sector in Holiday Inn hotel in Belgrade, about accommodation and catering.

Here are some interesting answers.

eKapija : Who was the greatest rival to Holiday Inn's team for this prestigious job ?

Unofficially, we haven't had any rival for that job.

eKapija : Which were your tasks in this project?

Hotel Holiday Inn had the exclusive right to provide food for Serbia Open. We had three restaurants within the complex in Dorćol. The first one was for the tournament staff (including volonteers, referees...) and journalists who reported from Serbia Open. The players were served in the second restaurant, while the third restaurant was a fast food restaurant and it was at the disposal of all visitors of the tournament. We have almost forgotten about VIP restaurant, which was reserved for VIP guests, including sponsors.

eKapija : How many people did you feed during the tournament ?

As far as staff and press are concerned, we were to prepare 1,100 meals a day, which makes total of about 11,000 meals served during the tournament. When it comes to players, there was a meal table because we had to take care of what they eat. Therefore, we make between 80 and 260 meals for players every day, that is, about 1,600 meals during the whole tournament. We do not have the exact number of meals that we served in the third restaurant. However, what was obvious was that the number of spectators, as well as the number of meals, grew enormously on all days when Novak Đoković had match.

ekapija : How did you transport food from New Belgrade ?

We did not transport food. There was an installed kitchen within the complex in Dorćol, so that all food was prepared on the spot, in the boxes that preserve the desired temperature. The kitchen itself was at the level of a hotel kitchen.

eKapija : Were there any evening refreshments at the tournament site and, if any, what did they include ?

There weren't any evening refreshments. Catering for the press was organized several times a day. Among the rest, Goran Đoković once organized a reception party for the press in Blue Train, which was on the railway tracks next to the entrance to SC "Gale Muškatirović".

eKapija : Do you plan to take part in this prestigious tennis tournament next year?

Of course we would love to, but it all depends on the organizers. And we heard from them that we showed top professionalism. Therefore, we can not see the reason why we should not talk with you next year about how we did our job at Serbia Open 2010!