Gvozdenović: We expect 400.000 tourists from Serbia

The Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, Branimir Gvozdenović, said today that in this year's season, Montenegro is expected to be visited by around 400.000 tourists from Serbia, which is around 30.000 more than in 2015.

He told the journalists that last year, about 370.000 tourists from Serbia visited Montenegro and that they had 1,9 million overnight stays.

"This year, we expect an increase in the number of Serbian tourists, primarily due to the improvement of infrastructure, but also numerous events that take place during the season", explained Gvozdenović and added that Serbian tourists stay on the Montenegrin coast for an average of eight days, and that the expected stay this season will be extended by half a day on average.

According to him, Montenegro will present its offer at the upcoming Tourism Fair in Belgrade, which starts tomorrow, and visitors can expect discounts for early bookings.

The minister added that Montenegro is fighting for its position on the market with quality and appropriate prices this season as well and added that prices will remain at last year's level.

"Serbia is a very important market for Montenegro," he said and added that tourists from Serbia make up 25 percent of the total number of tourists.

As announced, charter flights from Belgrade to Tivat are also planned, which means lower prices for tourists, as hoteliers would then offer more affordable package deals.

It was also estimated that the ticket prices of Montenegro Airlines could be lower by 10 to 15 percent, if the taxes at the Belgrade airport were reduced.

According to Gvozdenović, in 2015, Montenegro had an income from tourism of 800 million euros. 1,75 million tourists visited Montenegro last year, which is 13 percent more than in 2014, and more than 11 million overnight stays were achieved.

"One of the most important recognitions we received in the past year was the one from Lonely Planet, when Kotor was on the first place in the list of 10 cities to visit in 2016," he said, adding that in previous years, that award was given to Washington , Paris, San Francisco, London and New York.

According to the report of the World Council for Tourism and Travel in 2015, which analyzes the growth trends of 184 countries in which tourism is a strategic branch, Montenegro is among the first three destinations in terms of the forecast of the speed of development in the next ten-year period.

It was also stated that in high season individual prices for overnight stays in private accommodation on the Montenegrin coast range from 20 to XNUMX euros.