A failed summer season in Montenegro

Something is not right: A failed summer season in Montenegro

Montenegrin hoteliers believe that high prices, infrastructure works and the lack of flights contributed to this season being worse than the previous one.

According to Nikola Pejović from the Association of Hotels of Montenegro, the rating for this season is not great.

“The season must have failed by 20 percent, it’s worse than last year,” said Pejović, emphasizing the lack of preparation and insufficient presence of state officials in the tourism strategy.

Data from tourist organizations of the municipalities of Budva, Ulcinj and Herceg Novi provide a deeper insight into the current situation on the Primorje, while the number of tourists varies from city to city.

The peak season is late, preparations have not been made, and we have not seen the Minister of Tourism Vladimir Martinović during his mandate, said Pejović, adding that many tourism workers do not speak honestly and think that everything will be seen at the end of the season.

Pejović noted that the consequences of this are the increased prices this year, as well as the excavated boulevard in Budva.

If we talk about other cities, the bad results are the consequences of the excavated boulevard Kotor – Tivat. People did not come to be in the mud or sand, but to enjoy themselves. Also, the consequence is the lack of lukost companies. Airports are boasting that a record number of guests came, but what should Albania be talking about, since they have 240 flights a day, Pejović points out.

Peak season is late

“I think it’s a bad season in general, because no one is praising me too much. The peak season is late, we had a “hole” again in July, June was quite “colorful”. May and April were solid, we had groups. I can’t say that everything was bad, but something is not right. The guests are from the region, Ukraine, Italy, Russia, Poland, Azerbaijan… I am the owner of a small hotel and the day before I had six rooms empty, and this should be the peak time and the time when more beds are requested. When they now raise the VAT for accommodation to 15 percent, because there is no other inflow of money, except for the hotel part, then it will be a disaster. Large hotels have already sold part of the accommodation for the next year, but that is why private accommodation, which makes up 70 percent of the capacity, has not entered the VAT system. “The government lowers our contributions, but that’s why it raises our levies,” emphasizes Pejović.

According to the latest analysis by the Tourist Organization of Budva, there are currently about 40,000 tourists staying on the Budva Riviera, of which about 22,000 are in private and about 17,000 in hotel accommodation, while the rest stay in hostels and camps.

When the current visitation is compared with the same period last year, six percent more tourists stay in hotel accommodation, while about eight percent less stay in private accommodation, and the total number of tourists is roughly at the same level, say TO Budva, adding that, according to announcements , hoteliers expect a better tourist season this year by some five to ten percent, despite the correction of hotel accommodation prices, up to 15 percent at most.

The owners of private accommodation are satisfied

Jovan Rosić from the Association of Private Accommodation Providers says, however, that they are satisfied with the season and that occupancy is approximately at the level of last year.

“We don’t have insights into the numbers of tourism organizations of cities, but in communication with people from the association, who are seriously involved in tourism, we can conclude that the season is good. The current capacity occupancy is at a high level and almost everything is sold out. Owners who have significantly raised prices rely more on “last-minute booking”, while the majority sold out capacities in July and August in advance. The peak season is traditionally well filled and we have good announcements for the end of August and September,” Rosić said.

He points out that the works in Budva did not significantly affect the reservations, because most of the guests did not know about them when booking.

Of course, there were negative comments and dissatisfaction with the works, but the biggest problem that tourists encounter here is the large crowds on the roads. The stretch Budva – Kotor – Tivat is particularly critical. This is something that the competent services must influence in the coming period. We hope that the expansion of the Budva-Tivat main road will at least somewhat improve the situation we are in, claims Rosić.

Source: Win

Photo: Pixabay, screenshot