The main destination for summer holidays abroad for Montenegrin citizens this year is Greece, because it supposedly offers the best price-quality ratio, while a large number of those who decide not to travel across the border will stay in hotels on the coast.
Interviewees from various tourism sectors told "Vijesta" that.
The questions were forwarded to the addresses of several travel agencies, but the answer came only from the "Gallileo" agency, from which they said that this year Greece is the main target of domestic travelers, but also that citizens are increasingly going to Egypt, Turkey, Spain and Italy. .
"The proximity of Greece is attractive because beautiful places and beaches such as Corfu, Lefkada and Loutraki can be reached relatively quickly by bus and car," said the agency.
A nine-day arrangement in one of those cities, they said, costs between 310 and 390 euros. They point out that a similar trip to Turkey, due to air transportation and better accommodation, would cost more than a thousand euros, while for eight days in Hurghada, Egypt, citizens would have to shell out 700 to 800 euros.
The agency from Podgorica believes that this year is a record year for tourism and emphasizes that international trips are sold out several months in advance, as well as all arrangements for summer vacations in Greece until the end of August.
"Vijesti" also asked the citizens of Podgorica about their tourist wishes and vacations, most of whom said that they were only interested in the Balkans. Some of them did not reveal their identity, while one sixty-two-year-old man said that because of his love for antiquity, he is going on a "five-day arrangement to Rome" this year, while previously he mainly vacationed in Budva.
Lidija Popović said that she will spend her vacation by the sea in her cottage in Sutomor. For her, "the coast of Montenegro is the dearest and most suitable".
Of the interlocutors, Nikola, a young man from Podgorica, announced his visit to the most locations, who said that he and his children are going to Sarand in Albania for a few days, after which they will go to Umag in Croatia on business.
"After that we will go to Budva because it is very affordable, a full board for a family with swimming pools will cost around 90 euros per day", he said and pointed out that in the fall he will go to Greece or Turkey, depending on which is more affordable.
The President of the Montenegrin Tourist Association, Žarko Radulović, told the "News" that this summer season will be unprecedented in hotel and collective accommodation.
He said that the attendance of this sector is already good and he expects it to be like that throughout the summer.
Radulović believes that "private accommodation is not well organized this year" because, as he said, "they did not guess the price". As a special problem for this summer, he pointed out weak infrastructure and crowds on the coast.
Radulović's ratings for collective accommodation were also confirmed by the "Budvanska Riviera" hotel group. The group told "Vijesta" that in the first half of this year they recorded a 74 percent increase in the number of domestic guests compared to the same period last year. They also add that they are "close to the level of 2019". As they say, families are most interested in their hotels, so they often offer free accommodation for one child up to 10 years old and a 50 percent discount for a second child up to 12 years old.
Serbia: Greece, Montenegro, Turkey...
Tropical heat arrived in Serbia only a few days ago, but the summer tourist season is already in full swing. As in previous years, the most attractive summer destination for citizens of Serbia is Greece. It is expected that this year, around one million tourists from Serbia will spend their vacation on the shores of the Aegean Sea or some other sea that washes over the Greek shores.
There are no real records of how many of our tourists travel to where they travel, because a good number of them go to the sea on their own arrangements, especially to Montenegro, but also to Greece.
About 70 percent of tourists who travel through travel agencies go to Greece. Last year, it was estimated that close to 200.000 people from Serbia went to Greece on their own arrangements, bypassing travel agencies.
As Aleksandar Seničić, director of the National Association of Tourist Agencies in Serbia (JUTA), tells Danas, the most visited are the northern parts of Greece, and about 65 percent of tourists stay in private accommodation, while a part of tourists go to hotel accommodation, mainly on the islands, but also partly in northern Greece.
The most popular parts of Greece for our people are also those closest to Serbia. It is northern Greece, and above all the region of Halkidiki where the famous three "fingers" are located, i.e. the three peninsulas of Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos with popular resorts such as Hanioti, Pefkohori, Neas Marmaras... Another popular region is Pieria where there are Paralia, Nei Pori, Leptokaria. About a third, and depending on the year, up to 45 percent of tourists from Serbia spend their summer in these two regions.
As always, Montenegro attracts a large number of Serbian tourists and is generally regarded as the second most popular destination among citizens. Last year, more than a quarter of a million people vacationed there.
Seničić estimates that about 75 percent go to private accommodation, and one quarter to hotels.
This year, more than 300.000 people could find a vacation in Montenegro.
The third most important summer destination for citizens of Serbia is Turkey. And while people go to Montenegro primarily in their own accommodation and in private accommodation, in 90 percent of cases they go to Turkey through a travel agency and spend the night in hotels.
Seničić notes that 100 percent of tourists in Turkey spend their summers in hotels, and it is interesting that Turkey, along with Istanbul and lately Ankara, is a year-round destination for our tourists. About 250.000 to 300.000 people from Serbia visit Turkey annually.
Behind these three main destinations for Serbian tourists are neighboring countries such as Croatia or Bulgaria, the North African countries of Egypt and Tunisia, and finally Italy and Spain, which are important tourist destinations even in the off-season.
About 40.000 people from our region vacation in Egypt a year, and five or six thousand in Tunisia, although according to Seničić, this year there could be as many as twenty thousand, and all of them are hotel guests.
Italy as a destination is more popular for holidays and city tours than it is a sea destination. About twenty thousand people from Serbia go to Italy to the sea every year, and a total of about 150.000 people visit Italy, especially the northern part.
It is similar with Spain, and graduation excursions that visit northern Italy, southern France and Spain play an important role in this.
90 percent of tourists go to Croatia individually, and about 80 percent go to private accommodation. That is why, notes Seničić, Utah does not have many data on the total number of tourists.
In the end, 70-80.000 people visit Bulgaria in a season, and about 60 percent stay in hotels. This country is mainly a destination for tourists from eastern and southeastern Serbia due to its proximity.
However, Serbia is no longer just a country from which to travel abroad, but also a popular tourist destination.
Last year, a surplus was recorded in tourism, as tourism revenues reached 2,5 billion euros, and expenditures from our tourists abroad were below 2,4 billion euros.
Last year, there were 3,8 million arrivals and 12,2 million overnight stays of tourists in Serbia, which is an increase of 30 percent in the case of arrivals and 25 percent in the case of the number of overnight stays compared to the previous year.
Of particular note is the growth in the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists of almost 50 percent last year compared to 2021.
By far the most important destination is Belgrade with 3,2 million overnight stays last year, and more than half of all overnight stays in Serbia were made in cities.
Among the tourist places, Vrnjačka Banja and Sokobanja stand out, with more than 750.000 overnight stays each last year, which accounts for half of all overnight stays in spas.
Last year, 673.852 nights were spent on Zlatibor, and 585.000 nights on Kopaonik, and they are the most important mountain centers in Serbia. In total, 2,8 million nights were spent on the mountains in 2022.
The growth of domestic visits to tourist centers in Serbia in recent years is also contributed by the issuance of tourist vouchers by the state.
This year, 200.000 such vouchers worth 5.000 dinars each, which can be used to pay for accommodation in registered accommodation facilities, have already been distributed on two occasions.
Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina spend their summer in Turkey more and more
Summer has arrived, along with it the vacation season and the dilemma of where to spend these, for most citizens, hard-earned days. Reservations for the upcoming season are well under way, so we checked in a Sarajevo agency which destinations are the most popular, as well as which countries are most often chosen by citizens.
"The greatest demand is for the Turkish region. This year, the price of arrangements and offers has increased drastically in that country, but it is still cheaper than Croatia. There is demand for the Croatian coast, but not to the extent it was 2-3 years ago. Mostly due to the lack of all-inclusive offers and not including transportation costs in the price, which is almost always implied in the offers for Turkey. Also, the demand for Albania has increased recently, but people still have the opinion that they are better off in Turkey, so Albania is seriously lagging behind Turkey", Aida Trakić, an employee of the "Biss Tour Agency", told us.
The prices of the arrangements have increased the most in Turkey and on the Adriatic coast, in some places by 20-30 percent, but it all depends on the accommodation. Of all the sought-after destinations, only Egypt can boast of the fact that they have not raised prices in the last period.
"There is also a certain number of people who go to Egypt through our agency, which is much more favorable than Turkey itself, but people are skeptical for many reasons and rarely choose to spend their vacation there", they told us in the "Biss Tours" agency.
We also convinced ourselves in the conversation with the citizens that the Turkish destinations are the most attractive.
"I spent most of my summer vacations in Croatia, and this year I decided to go to Turkey." I have never been there, but I was attracted by the very favorable prices. Honestly, the sea is much nicer in Croatia, but it can't be compared to Turkey in terms of price," one Saraj woman told us, while her fellow citizen decided to replace neighboring Croatia with the coast of the Aegean Sea this year.
"I just started to book a summer vacation in Turkey. I have summered in many destinations in my life, each place has its own charm, and for the last few years it has been a destination that attracts me because of the comfort that can be obtained for quite a bit of money", said a Sarajka who we found in front of a Sarajevo agency.
In the conversation with the rest of our fellow citizens, we got similar answers, and even those who still stick to vacations in neighboring countries notice that in the last few years there has been a significant change in demand among their family and friends.
"I am loyal to Montenegro," a man from Banja Luka, who stayed in Greece last year, tells us.
"But I also had a good time in Neum, where I met relatives from Serbia one weekend," he recalls.
The increase in interest in the so-called domestic sea is interesting. Corona has actually awakened Neum as a desirable, close and acceptable vacation location. More and more tourists from Serbia are arriving in Neum, we learn from local apartment owners, but also from Asian countries. After all, the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina is becoming more and more interesting for tourists, and there are Bosnians and Herzegovinans who are increasingly conquering exotic, distant tourist destinations: from Sarajevo and Banjeluka, they go to Bali and Thailand, all year round, and it's not a small one either. interest in Portugal and Spain. Tourist workers say that it is actually the depth of the pocket that decides: people who want to afford a summer vacation, even if it is abbreviated, are determined by the prices, those who have money are increasingly demanding - they choose locations and length of arrangements, but also look for opportunities to rent boats and yachts and stay and on land and at sea.
When it's vacation, let it be fun.
At least two million Croats will come to their shores
When it comes to summer vacations, the Croatian Adriatic is beyond any competition for Croatian citizens. There is no crisis in which at least one million Croats cannot afford a summer vacation somewhere from Savudrija to Prevlaka, and in normal years, more than two million. True, in recent years the north and south of the Croatian coast, primarily Istria and Dubrovnik, have been reserved for those with deeper pockets, but between those two points there are plenty of places with better prices. With the fact that practically nothing on the Croatian sea has been cheap for some time now, and Adriatic prices, pumped by good demand from Europe, have jumped even more after the corona virus. Compared to last year, accommodation is on average 15 to 20 percent more expensive, sometimes even 50 percent, which is very exhausting for the wallet of the average Croat. Average salaries in Croatia have exceeded 1.100 euros per month, but with that, along with rising prices, it is impossible to survive the month and, for example, go on vacation to one of the Adriatic's high-end hotels (at the same time, four- and five-star hotels are now practically dominating on the coast !).
Therefore, the average Croat is mostly content with a zimmer vacation, cooks while on vacation, goes out to dinner once a week and generally spends very carefully during those seven or ten days of vacation. Others don't have to worry about it, and there are others. In the official tourist statistics, there are also Croats who vacation in the so-called non-commercial accommodation. A group of Croatian citizens who vacation with family or in cottages and apartments by the sea spend the most domestic overnight stays. These are buildings that are not registered for rent, but it is assumed that a good part of the 4,3 million so-called of non-commercial overnight stays of domestic guests in 2022, for example, was not at all non-commercial and on a friendly basis, but that it was also paid for.
Be that as it may, in the last year, among the almost 19 million tourists in Croatia, there were more than 2,6 million domestic guests, with a total of 12,5 million overnight stays. The absolute champion was the island of Vir, known precisely for its cottages, with 1,3 million overnight stays, Crikvenica is second with around 420.000 overnight stays by domestic guests. Most of the domestic guests during the year are attracted by the Kvarner destinations, which are also the closest, and thus very practical for weekend arrivals from the continent. All this, of course, also applies to previous years. In the past five or six years, the only atypical year was the first pandemic year, 2020, when the number of local citizens at sea fell below two million (to 1,6 million), and Croatia hosted a total of only 7,7 million tourists. Domestic guests also contributed to the tourist recovery and relatively quick return to the old ways, which last year even exceeded the record figures from 2019, when there were 2,4 million of them on the Adriatic.
Of course, Croats do not spend their summers only on the Croatian sea. Greece, Turkey, Egypt are some of the traditional summer destinations, and this year, another summer destination, Tunisia, is making a grand return.
"Yes, this year there are also charters from Zagreb and it is in high demand. In the first minute offer, you can get a flight, a four-star hotel on an all-inclusive basis for as little as 500-600 euros. On the Adriatic, for that money, you can get seven half-boards in a star hotel, and not during peak hours. Greece is also booking well, which has the most similar tourism to ours. Prices have risen somewhat there as well, but still for 700 euros you can get a flight, a seven-day holiday on a bed and breakfast basis in a hotel with two, maybe even three stars. Turkey is also popular among those who like higher-quality all-inclusive arrangements. When they consider that everything in Turkey can be obtained for a thousand euros, including the flight, it turns out to be more favorable than in our country", analyzes Ana Magdić, director of sales at the tourist agency "Palma Travel", who says that this year there is no rush on trips like last year.
"Last year it was beyond all expectations. After the lockdown, people were eager to travel, they saved something in the corona because there was no travel and everything had a pass. This year is also good as far as the demand of our citizens is concerned, but now it already resembles a regular, normal situation".
This is also confirmed by Boris Žgomba, the president of the association of travel agencies at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, who estimates that between five and 10.000 Croatian citizens will travel abroad on summer holidays in the agency organization.
"If they find more favorable, more attractive, why not? But nothing can threaten the position of the Adriatic".
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