Tourism officials from Ulcinj, Tivat and Budva, despite the war crisis in Ukraine and the mutual sanctions of Russia and Montenegro, that is, the absence of guests from these two tourist destinations, expect this year's tourist season to be at the level of last year.
In an interview with "Vijesti", they said that they traditionally expect the most guests from the region where they have already launched the presentation of the tourist offer, and they hope that the opening of new charter lines will bring a greater number of guests from the countries of Western Europe, which would compensate for the lack of Russian and Ukrainian tourists. .
The first guests, they say, have already started arriving, and the official start of this year's season began with the May Day holidays with a series of local events.
Bigger wave at the end of June
Despite the unfavorable and extremely uncertain global moment, tourism officials in Ulcinj hope for a good tourist season, which officially began on April 30 with the "All for Tourism" event, while they expect a larger wave of guests at the end of June.
"From April 30 to May 2, we hosted a large number of journalists from the region, which also meant the official opening of the summer season. As part of the event, we had children's shows in cooperation with all the school institutions in the city, a handicrafts fair in cooperation with Globus Art and Artizane shop, a presentation of traditional Ulcinj cuisine in cooperation with the gastronomy of Ulcinj, and finally a concert with local performers," said the president of the local tourist organization Gzim Hajdinaga.
The Association of Hotels and Apartments in Ulcinj hopes for a season similar to last year's despite the problems that have arisen recently and will undoubtedly affect the visit of tourists from Russia and Ukraine.
"Despite this, we think that Ulcinj will continue to be one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Montenegro", said the president of this association, Fuad Lunji, to "Vijesta".
The president of the Prelja Škrelja swimming pool tenants' association is also an optimist, who hopes that this year's season will start earlier and end later. He stated that there are bookings and that they are mostly old guests from the diaspora and the region.
"The markets that are most interested in this season are traditionally the region and Western Europe the most. We can expect the first big wave of guests at the end of June", estimated Škrelja.
Lunji stated that at the beginning the reservations were at an unenviable level, which was influenced by the geopolitical situation, but that now the interest of guests has grown significantly.
"We must emphasize that we expected significantly more from all relevant organizations of the Municipality of Ulcinj in terms of pre-season organizations, which are currently at a minimum level," said Lunji.
Hajdinaga reminded that TO did everything to ensure that Ulcinj's offer was on "all meridians, where it was possible". According to him, he is pleased with the fact that in May and June they have an enviable number of guests from the region and that travel measures have been lifted throughout Europe and that tourism is experiencing a recovery with the abatement of the pandemic. He pointed to the problem caused by the war crisis in Ukraine, which indirectly affects them as well.
Enhanced campaign
Regardless of the war in Ukraine and the non-arrival of Russian and Ukrainian tourists caused by it, tourism officials in Tivat expect that the upcoming summer main season on the Tivat Riviera will be more successful than last year and that it will approach the results achieved in the record-breaking, pre-coronavirus year 2019.
The executive director of the Tivat Tourist Organization, Danica Banjević, told "Vijesti" that.
She bases her optimism on the interest of guests from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, but also on the opening of some completely new markets, such as Saudi Arabia this summer, and the improvement of air connections to other broadcast markets in Europe, such as Scandinavia.
"Ukrainian tourists, who were really many in Montenegro last year because of the war, will certainly be absent. There will be fewer Russians than before, because probably only those who have real estate in Montenegro will come via indirect air connections via Belgrade and Istanbul. It is pleasing that we already have quite good attendance and that bookings, especially from Western markets, are maintained at a fairly solid level, despite the war in Ukraine. I am sure that this year we can still improve what we had as a result last year", Banjević pointed out.
She stated that more than 2.500 tourists stayed in all types of accommodation in Tivat during the Easter holidays, which is three times more than at the same time last year, but also a 32 percent better result compared to the comparative period in the pre-season of the record-breaking year 2019.
Banjević stressed that Tivat's high-category hotels record very good and very early bookings of American tourists, and earlier than in previous years, the arrival of tourists from Great Britain and especially Germany, who arrive on the already renewed or newly established lines of lowcost and charter airlines from those two countries, started state in Tivat by airport.
"The arrival of larger groups of tourists from Israel to local hotels has also started. Private accommodation providers say that they are already satisfied with the interest and booking of their capacities, so we are optimistic when it comes to the overall effects of the upcoming season," said Banjević, adding that a lot is expected from tourists from the region, which is why TO Tivat is intensifying its promotional campaign in Serbia. , BiH and North Macedonia.
Carnival to start the season
The Budva Tourist Organization marked the informal start of the season by organizing a four-day International Tourist Carnival that began on April 29 under the slogan "Let Love Live".
"The international tourist carnival attracted the first wave of a larger number of guests to Budva, which was 20.000, and at the same time informally marked the beginning of the tourist season," said TO Vijesta director Nemanja Kuljača.
In addition to the organization of events, the Tourist Organization of the Municipality of Budva has largely focused its activities on the intensive promotion of Budva's tourist offer in the region.
"According to the information coming from the tourism industry, which is fully ready to welcome tourists in larger numbers, there is moderate optimism in Budva when it comes to this tourist season. Currently, more than 14.000 tourists are staying in Budva. We believe that this trend will continue during the continuation of the pre-season and the main tourist season," said Kuljača.
It is uncertain what will happen to yachting tourism
Banjević pointed out that for now it is unknown how much the situation in Ukraine and the international community's sanctions against Russia will affect elite yachting tourism in Boka.
"This is due to the fact that rich Russians are among the most numerous owners of mega and superyachts in the world," explained Banjević.
During the upcoming main summer tourist season, according to the airline carrier's confirmed announcements so far, the Tivat airport will be connected to at least 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East and the Middle East by regular year-round and seasonal lines.
The Tivat Tourism Organization and the local tourism officials work intensively on diversifying the offer through special segments that include newly renovated hiking trails around Luštica, visits to local rural households, hiking and biking around Vrmac, and bird watching in the Solila nature reserve.
Although due to the war in Ukraine and mutual economic sanctions imposed on each other by Russia and Montenegro, this year there will be no flights from two of the three most important markets when it comes to Tivat airport - Russia and Ukraine, this will be partially compensated by the introduction of additional flights and destinations primarily towards Northern and Western Europe, but also to a new market such as Saudi Arabia. Namely, the arrival of the Saudi low-cost airline Flynas at Tivat airport is the biggest news of this season, because starting from June 1st, the planes of that carrier will fly three times a week on the Riyadh-Tivat route until September 30th.
Compared to last year, the traffic with Scandinavia has also increased significantly, and direct charter flights to the Netherlands have also been renewed.
What will be a problem again this year when it comes to the development of the tourist season in Tivat is the poor traffic infrastructure, because the state and its companies, despite numerous announcements and promises, have not done anything to improve the roads, nor the condition of the local airport, which has a small, outdated and a completely inappropriate terminal building for modern circumstances.
Although the largest part of Montenegro's tourist revenue is generated here, the road connection between Tivat, Kotor and Budva is in a catastrophic state, because even after almost a year since the selection of the contractor, the reconstruction of this section of the Jadranska magistrala into a boulevard has not begun, although according to the volume of traffic, it is the busiest stretch of road in the entire state. In addition, this year there could be problems in the water supply of the coast due to a drastic reduction in the yield of the Bolje sestre water source on Lake Skadar, which was recently hinted at by the Regional Water Supply Company.
A weak response from the Government and the Ministry of Economy
The interlocutors of "Vijesti" from Ulcinj complain that that city does not have adequate help from the Government and relevant ministries in the organization and preparation of the season.
"Unfortunately, we haven't had any help from the relevant ministry so far, but we hope that in the future everyone will be more understanding for greater cooperation and help to all institutions that were affected by the pandemic and better understand the role of tourist organizations in the preparation of the tourist season," said Hjadinaga.
Lunji is of a similar opinion, who expects the Government and the Ministry of Economy to create conditions for a safe and comfortable stay of foreign citizens, to see hoteliers and restaurateurs as partners, and not as subjects only for carrying out inspections and collecting fines.
Lunji also expects the Municipality to intervene in the rehabilitation of local roads before the start of the season because the current situation is extremely bad.
"Rental prices remain the same, with no announcement of a reduction. We are even required to attach a valid guarantee of 20 percent of the rental price," said Prelja.
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