Lack of seasonal labor, bus transportation from the Podgorica airport to the center of the capital city, unresolved issues of noise and cleanliness, poor traffic connections, traffic congestion and congestion at border crossings, insufficient number of border police officers on the coast, inability for foreigners to pay for parking spaces by SMS , inadequate inspection supervision, lack of organized preparedness of certain health centers (hygienic-epidemiological services), lack of parking spaces at the tollbooth towards Black Lake and Lake Biograd... these are the key problems the state faces in the run-up to the summer tourist season.
The same problems have been present for years, as the Government recently noted at one of its meetings, and it is certain that few of them will be resolved before the beginning of summer.
One of the challenges that the Government recognized for the summer season, and which were pointed out by the national airline "To Montenegro", are the uncertain implementation of flights this year to certain destinations (Ukraine and Israel) and fluctuations in the price of aviation fuel.
Everyone to start to make the season successful
The Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North told "Vijesti" that at the end of March, at the Government session, this year's Plan for the prepared summer tourist season was adopted, which defines the activities that all those who are directly and indirectly involved in the preparation of the season will of the state and at the local level before or during the summer tourist season, with the aim of creating conditions for the highest possible preparation and taking place this season.
"During the preparation of information on the results of the previous summer tourist season, numerous challenges were recognized that accompanied its development and which we can say have been repeated for many years. The recorded problems concern the lack of quality and qualified human resources, noise, dirt and waste, the state of the infrastructure, long delays at border crossings, lack of parking spaces, poor accessibility of Montenegro as a tourist destination, in terms of inadequate traffic infrastructure and traffic jams present during the main tourist season ... In order to overcome these challenges and minimize negative effects on the season to the greatest extent possible, competent institutions are expected to intensify and take measures in a timely manner, in order to make the summer tourist season successful. Bearing in mind that the tourism product is complex and depends on numerous factors, coordinated activity of all institutions and companies is necessary in order to achieve satisfactory results", said the department headed by Minister Vladimir Martinović.
This ministry emphasized that one of the main problems we face is the lack of qualified human resources in tourism.
"Human resources, their knowledge, skills, abilities and competences represent a key factor in the business of tourist companies, and the high quality of tourist services depends above all on the available number of employees, in a qualitative and quantitative sense. Bearing in mind that wages in the services, accommodation and catering sector are constantly below the average wages at the level of Montenegro, this is one of the reasons for the "unattractiveness" of the sector when choosing a future occupation. Also, due to the seasonal nature of the tourism industry, young people do not show a particular interest in getting an education and specializing in this field. This problem is not only faced by Montenegro, but also by all countries in the Region and beyond"; they said in the Ministry of Tourism.
They added that one of the ways to overcome this problem is the development of a year-round tourist offer, and that the current four-year Tourism Development Strategy, valid until the end of next year, defines the goal of developing a diversified tourist offer, through the development of rural, cultural, health, event and other types of tourism, which will create the conditions for greater year-round demand for labor force.
From this department, they also remind that the Coordinating Body for the preparation and monitoring of tourist seasons has the task to, in cooperation with all participants in the formation of the tourist product, provide conditions for the smooth development of tourist seasons, through measures and activities in preparation for the season
"Due to the need to involve a larger number of entities, the lack of coordinated action, or inadequate cooperation is, among other things, the reason why problems are repeated year after year. We believe that it is necessary to act strategically in the direction of finding final and acceptable solutions. This implies that all actors who participate in ensuring the conditions for the smooth development of the tourist season, anticipate possible problems and undertake activities to prevent them. Also, in some cases it requires institutional action in terms of changing certain regulatory frameworks", said the Ministry of Tourism.
They are looking for a solution for parking in NP "Durmitor" and "Biogradska gora"
The Public Enterprise for National Parks "Vijesta" also indicated that they are aware of the lack of parking spaces in the national parks "Durmitor" and "Biogradska gora" and that they are working intensively on finding a solution to this problem.
"Regarding NP "Biogradska gora", the construction of a parking lot on Kraljevo kol, near the control and toll booth, is planned as part of the Program of temporary facilities. Project documentation for this parking lot was completed in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Although construction was planned, the project was not realized due to a lack of money due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to realize this significant project with the help of the Capital Projects Administration. "The signing of the contract for the amendment of the project documentation according to the Eurocodes is underway, after which a public procurement for the construction of the parking lot on the Kraljevo kol will be announced," said the National Parks.
As for the lack of parking spaces at the toll plaza towards the Black Lake, this state-owned company believes that together with the competent institutions and the Ministry of Tourism, they will solve this problem in the coming period.
"Given the complexity of the situation, we cannot currently guarantee that the problem will be solved by the beginning of the summer tourist season, but we are actively working to find a permanent solution in order to improve the experience of visitors to the National Parks "Durmitor" and "Biogradska gora", the state company said. .
Problems are not the jurisdiction of the NTO
The National Tourism Organization of Montenegro told "Vijesti" that their scope of competence in preparation for the season includes intensive promotional activities towards targeted markets.
"Since September last year, we have covered about 25 countries with promotional activities for this season through participation in the most important fairs and business workshops, marketing campaigns on global travel platforms and media, and study visits by tour operators and the media," said the NTO.
The NTO claims that the lack of transportation from the Airport to the city center, the inability for foreigners to pay for parking by SMS, the lack of bilingual information on parking information boards, free public internet sites in the city, luggage storage and storage facilities in the city center and at the Airport, lack the exchange office ... is outside the purview of the NTO, but that they "always point out that all these shortcomings affect the overall experience of the destination and the experience of the guests."
"During the regular surveys of the tourism industry that we conduct, insufficiently developed infrastructure stands out as one of the main shortcomings in the season. The NTO is open to supporting relevant institutions in solving these problems, in accordance with the scope of our competences", said the NTO.
In order to identify deficiencies in the tourist offer and improve the overall quality of the destination, NTO, as they say, implemented the project of Integral Quality Management in the destination during the previous year.
"The goal of this project is to raise the quality in all segments that affect the quality of services and products in tourism. As part of this pilot project, online reputations in Kotor and Cetinje were measured, and based on the collected 30.000 reviews, the total quality level of the tourist offer during 2023 was 88/100. We plan to conduct similar research in other municipalities during 2024," said the NTO.
The Ministry of Health is asking for a detailed schedule of the readiness of the hygiene and epidemiological services
The Ministry of Health told "Vijesta" that through the implementation of the Summer Tourist Season Preparation Plan during the previous year, 2023, the lack of organized preparedness of certain health centers, i.e. hygiene-epidemiological services, which perform their activities at the health centers in Budva, was recognized as a challenge. Ulcinj, Pljevlja and Berane, and that they informed the Institute for Public Health.
"The decision on the network of health institutions of the Ministry of Health established a network of service providers at the primary level of health care, and hygienic-epidemiological services are distributed according to this network in the health centers of Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Herceg Novi, Kotor, Nikšić, Pljevlja, Rožaje, Tivat, Ulcinj and the Institute for Public Health", said the ministry.
As they clarified at the beginning of April, they sent a letter to all directors of primary level health institutions and the Institute of Public Health on organizing the readiness of the hygiene-epidemiological service in accordance with the Decision on the network of health institutions, for the purpose of preparing and monitoring the summer tourist season in 2024.
"In order for the health care system to have an adequate response during the season, managers were instructed to submit to the Ministry a schedule of service readiness outside working hours with staff names, schedule and contact numbers. These data will be officially published on the website of the Ministry of Health, as well as on the websites of all institutions", said the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Finance stopped the increase in the number of inspectors
The Directorate for Inspection Affairs told "Vijesta" that as a challenge in the summer tourist season of 2023, faced by inspectors during increased supervision, they cited the inapplicability of certain regulations, unclear - imprecise provisions of certain regulations, failure to prescribe adequate administrative measures... .and that these challenges are also present during the preparation of this summer tourist season because amendments to certain laws are still in the process, some draft laws have been returned from the parliamentary procedure, while the amendments to some legal solutions have not yet been discussed.
From this Administration, they also state that a special challenge in the preparation of the summer tourist season is that, during the preparation of the proposal for the Rulebook on internal organization and systematization, the Ministry of Finance did not approve an increase in the number of executors.
"We created the Rulebook, which included an increase in the number of executors in all deficient professions and in all services and inspection staff to the extent necessary for quality field coverage in all areas. However, the Ministry of Finance gave the opinion that the Rulebook should be harmonized with the current number of enforcers. The adoption of the innovated Rulebook, which received all the opinions required by law, was postponed at the Government session, so it was not possible to plan in detail the strengthening of the capacity of the inspections that will participate in the increased supervision in the summer tourist season. ", they pointed out in the Administration.
They also cite long-term procedures and employment as a problem, as part of the procedures started in 2023 have not been completed, which are important for strengthening the capacity of inspections. They also point out that the Government has not yet adopted this year's Personnel Plan that was submitted to it.
"To conclude that the effective overcoming of most challenges is not conditioned by the actions of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs, but by the actions of other competent institutions, the dynamics of which we cannot influence. The Administration does not have an adequate number of executors, but tries to make up for the lack of personnel by allocating personnel capacities in relation to the current priority points", the Administration concluded.
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