Tourism is a pillar of the Montenegrin economy, which must be developed smarter and more sustainably, it was assessed at a panel at the Montenegro 2025 Economic Conference organized in Budva by the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG).
At the panel titled Tourism 365, it was announced that this includes extending the season, diversifying the offer, and greater connectivity of tourism with other sectors.
Consultant for tourism and sustainable development, who moderated the panel, Snježana Derviškadić, recalled the importance of tourism as one of the strategic branches of the Montenegrin economy, stating that the goal is to recognize the essential challenges of modern tourism and find sustainable solutions that will contribute to the stable development of the sector.
She added, as announced by the PKCG, that it is our responsibility to understand changes and turn them into opportunities - because the future of tourism also depends on our willingness to adapt.
Partner at Horwat HTL, Matko Marohnić, who was part of the expert team that worked on the Spatial Plan of Montenegro, said that their intention was to create a Spatial Plan that would enable year-round, sustainable tourism, taking into account the authenticity of each region.
"With it, we have a framework, and now we need to get into spatial programming," said Marohnić.
According to him, destinations characterized by pronounced seasonality of tourism share the challenge of lack of infrastructure or the uncompetitiveness of existing infrastructure.
"The entire Adriatic-Ionian region lacks infrastructure that would support year-round tourism," Marohnić assessed.
Montenegro Stars Group CEO, Andrija Pešić, referred to MICE tourism as one of the key priorities during the winter months.
"These are guests who spend more on average and can give a strong recommendation for future visits from their friends and family. They can be our best promoters if we ourselves do not manage to present our offer worldwide," said Pešić, adding that Montenegro's winter tourism offer must be more comprehensive and meaningful.
Guests, he said, should not only have hotel services.
"It is necessary to offer additional content for relaxation, rest, sports, but also interesting programs outside the hotel. Agencies and DMC operators play a major role in this, as they can create a complete destination experience," said Pešić.
Executive Director of the Regional Development Agency Bjelasica, Komovi, Prokletije, Jelena Krivčević, emphasized the importance of rural and mountain tourism as a tool for reducing seasonal pressures and more balanced development of tourist areas, especially in the northern part of Montenegro.
She emphasized that the agency's special focus is on agricultural farms and local food producers who, in addition to agriculture, have also started to engage in tourism.
"In areas where tourists previously had no facilities, we have started to develop the offer of rural tourism. It contributes to the preservation of rural communities and slows down migration from villages to cities. Its additional benefit is not measured only by income - it preserves communities, traditions and ways of life, and is therefore of great importance for the sustainable development of Montenegro," said Krivčević.
Also, the final panel of the conference entitled Food for the Future: Innovations and Investments in Agriculture was held today.
Moderator Jaroslav Stupavski from the company Voli Trade spoke about the position of the meat and agricultural industry in Montenegro, comparing the situation in the country with practices in the region, and emphasized the importance of strengthening domestic production in the context of accession to the European Union.
Speaking about the structure of domestic production and import dependence, Stupavski emphasized that the export-import ratio in Montenegro is still extremely unfavorable, and that only a small percentage of the tourism and hospitality sector relies on local products.
"Montenegro currently has only about 13 to 14 percent of exports compared to imports, and even more worrying is the fact that only about five percent of hotels and tourist facilities are supplied with domestic products, and everything else comes from imports," said Stupavski.
He said that the potential for primary agricultural production in Montenegro is enormous.
As he stated, it is only necessary to connect knowledge, investments and local producers.
"By doing this, we are not only strengthening the economy, but also the country's food security," added Stupavski.
The Executive Director of the Goranović Meat Industry, Đorđije Goranović, said that the company has continuously developed, and that today it represents a leader in the meat industry, with a focus on caring for the end consumer and quality.
Among other things, he spoke about the plan for MI "Goranović" and the company Voli to realize a joint investment.
"Together with the Voli company, we have a project to form an agro-complex in an organized manner, with the application of all agro-technical measures and on the basis of comprehensive competitiveness, that will deal with primary agricultural production, primarily in the livestock sector. Our plan is to reduce the import of red meat - beef, veal and pork - by around 70 percent in the next three to four years, and we believe that we will also enter the production of chicken meat," announced Goranović.
The Executive Director of the Trivas Meat Industry from Prnjavor, Jelena Vasić, presented the company founded in 2001, which has 100 employees and today exports its products to the CEFTA market and is also engaged in service production for a large Croatian company that has significantly contributed to their development.
"I think family businesses are a good vertical for economic development and they have a lot of potential that is rarely talked about," said Vasić.
Today, the company is investing heavily in production modernization and energy efficiency in order to more easily adapt to EU regulations.
She pointed to a problem she shares with the entire economy - a labor shortage, which she blames on the mismatch between educational problems and labor market needs and poor development policies for rural areas.
"The key is to implement policies to keep people in the country and increase primary production in our countries," concluded Vasić.
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