Ivančević: Montenegro is paying the price for neglecting tourism, urgent reforms are key

Montenegro needs professional destination management, a modern tourism strategy, a new Tourism Law, a decisive fight against the grey economy, investments in airports and road infrastructure, as well as strong promotion in key source markets, said Dragan Purko Ivančević, a member of the Tourism and Hospitality Committee of the Chamber of Commerce.

"Montenegro is today paying the price for years of neglecting tourism as its most important economic sector. Instead of improving the quality of the tourist offer and strengthening competitiveness, we are witnessing a decline in the quality of the destination, a decrease in guest spending and a loss of position in relation to the countries of the region. The biggest problem is that Montenegro does not have a destination management system, which represents the basis for successful management in all developed tourist destinations. Without professional destination management, there is no development of a quality tourist product, coordination of all participants in tourism, or clear responsibility for results," Ivančević said.

He adds that the consequences of such a relationship are obvious.

"Montenegro is increasingly visited by guests who stay for shorter periods and spend less, while at the same time we are losing markets from which tourists with greater purchasing power come. Instead of increasing revenues through quality, we rely on quantity, which does not bring long-term benefits to either the economy or the state. The shadow economy has reached worrying proportions and has become one of the biggest problems of Montenegrin tourism. While legal businessmen regularly settle their obligations, a large part of tourist traffic takes place outside the legal channels, which collapses the market, encourages unfair competition and causes enormous damage to the state budget."

Ivančević points out that a particular reason for concern is the catastrophic state of the transport infrastructure.

"Airports, as the first image that tourists get of Montenegro, have been waiting for serious modernization for years. Insufficient capacities, outdated infrastructure and lack of investment directly affect the accessibility of the destination. In addition, poor road infrastructure further reduces Montenegro's competitiveness compared to countries that invest intensively in the development of the transport network. There is almost no serious international promotion of Montenegro, especially in Western European markets. It is from these markets that guests come who generate the highest spending and enable the extension of the tourist season to six or more months. Without strategic promotion and a strong presence in these markets, there is no sustainable development of tourism," said Ivančević.

He also said that he is particularly concerned by the fact that the Government has still not adopted the Tourism Development Strategy or the new Tourism Law.

"It is difficult to find a competitive tourist country that develops its most important economic sector without a strategic document and a modern legal framework. This speaks volumes about the state's attitude towards tourism. It is time to stop improvising. Montenegro needs professional destination management, a modern tourism strategy, a new Tourism Law, a decisive fight against the shadow economy, investments in airports and road infrastructure, as well as strong promotion in key source markets. Otherwise, we will continue to lose competitiveness, quality guests and income, while countries in the region will take over markets that once belonged to Montenegro. Tourism deserves a much more serious attitude from the state, because thousands of jobs, the development of local communities and the overall economic stability of our country depend on its success," said Ivančević.