The government is determined to destroy tourism, as the backbone of the Montenegrin economy, announced the president of the Main Board of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and representative of the European Union, Mirko Stanić, and added that this is clear from a number of indicators.
"The most obvious can be seen in the amount of the budget for the National Tourism Organization (NTO), which is the same as the previous year and where only 2,1 million euros are allocated for the promotional activities of our country," Stanić said in the announcement.
If we take into account that Montenegro is the only country in the region that records less income from tourism this year than last year, it is clear, as Stanić claims, that the Government as a whole does not understand the danger the Montenegrin budget is in if the negative trends continue.
"There are many reasons for the negative trends and almost all of them are the result of the government's disastrous policy. It is enough to look at the air accessibility of Montenegro compared to neighboring Albania, which records incredible rates of growth in both visits and tourist traffic, precisely thanks to the fact that over 100 planes land at their only airport every day," said Stanić.
He added that the subsidy for low-cost airlines is not even in the announcement when it comes to the state or NTO budget.
"Also, there is no strategy for using new models of attracting tourists, efficient marketing tools, or social networks and online presentation," said Stanić.
He said that due to the slowness and incompetence of the Government, it is still almost impossible to bring tourism workforce from distant destinations, which would fill the chronic shortage in this sector.
"Neighboring Croatia has hundreds of thousands of workers from abroad who make up for the lack of local labor force, and because of this, the income from tourism in that country will be as much as 17 billion euros this year, but the national tourism board there has a budget that is more than 50 million euros and which serves for promotion and bringing guests to that country", announced Stanić.
If the Government, the Ministry of Tourism, the NTO and other state actors in Montenegro's tourism offer continue with this attitude towards tourism, then, as Stanić claims, it is clear that it is an evil intention and "tunneling" of the Montenegrin tourist product for someone else's interests.
"Citizens of Montenegro, especially those whose existence depends on tourism, will not watch this calmly and the parties in power will receive the fierce response they clearly deserve," concluded Stanić.
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