Several thousand passengers who disembark from cruise ships at the port of Bar every week are supposed to get to know Bar, its surroundings or even Montenegro in a few hours, and therefore, upon leaving the terminal, they become an easy target for unrealistically high taxi fares, which, according to "Vijesti", range from several tens to several hundred euros, depending on the "right price".
Although there is no official price list that would show how much "cruisers" are charged for rides, because Bar taxi drivers do not have websites and the companies are not active on social media, informal conversations with several Bar taxi drivers, tourism workers and others who cooperate with "cruisers" indicate a practice that comes down to assessing the tourists' purchasing power combined with luck.
For a ride to Stari Bar, which is one of the most sought-after among cruise ship passengers, the price is usually around 50 euros, although for Barani, according to the taximeter, the ride from the city center would cost between eight and ten euros, which was confirmed by a "Vijesti" journalist who drove that route.
The fare to Sutomore or Čanj is approximately the same, and the fare to Tuđemil, Pečurice or Sutorman is similar.
When it comes to intercity transportation, that is, trips to Budva, Kotor or Tivat, according to the newspaper's interlocutors, several hundred euros are required. The same is the case for Ulcinj, Petrovac or Sveti Stefan.
Taxi drivers who the "Vijesti" journalist spoke to, who did not identify herself as a journalist, said that they usually take them to other cities and wait for them, and if tourists plan to stay all day, they return so they can work in Bar, and then go to pick them up again, but that costs more, without specifying what the waiting cost is and what the return cost is.
How important the arrival of cruise ships is to some taxi drivers is best illustrated by the image from the port of Bar. A few hours before the first passengers even leave the ship, a line of vehicles is already forming in front of the terminal. This is not a few wasted hours of waiting, but an investment in a potentially extremely profitable day.
"It all depends on how you get there," said one of them, explaining that there is no uniform practice among drivers, but that the price is determined by agreement. The taxi driver explains that some of them arrive in the morning around five o'clock, in order to take the best possible position, because the line of taxis often stretches along the entire port, where dozens of them wait.
The interviewee says that being first in line does not necessarily mean a good profit, because guests only leave around eight or nine o'clock, and perhaps the first ones to be "caught" only want to go as far as Sutomore, while, say, the tenth group wants to go to Herceg Novi.
Another taxi driver told the journalist in an informal conversation that "cruisers" are actually their main source of income "because the season is bad," and there is a lot of competition for the small amount of business they have in Bar, especially due to traffic jams that make many local trips impossible.
Such statements confirm what has been said in Bar for years, which is that some taxi drivers see the arrival of cruise ships as an opportunity to make money that has little to do with the real value of the service, and this situation was also pointed out to "Vijesti" by caterers from Stari Bar.
Based on publicly available data on cruise ship arrivals and the number of passengers, it is estimated that approximately 28 thousand passengers and another 10 thousand crew members have arrived in Bar so far this season, depending on the actual occupancy of the ships.
No reports, but 27 fines
From the Municipality of Bar, which he manages Dušan Raičević (Democratic Party of Socialists), told "Vijesti" that they have not yet received any reports regarding excessive taxi fares during cruise ship arrivals, but at the same time, they admit that controls have been intensified on those days.
"Inspectors from the Municipal Police Service and the Inspection Service control the work of registered and unregistered transporters on a daily basis, and controls are particularly intensified on days when cruise ship passengers are staying in Bar," the response from the Bar local government states.
According to their data, 27 misdemeanor warrants have been issued so far for transporting passengers without the documentation prescribed by the Law on Road Transport, although none of these proceedings related to the price charged to tourists, but rather to carrying out passenger transport activities without the documentation prescribed by law.
The Municipality of Bar reminds that the Decision on taxi transportation also allows for rides "by agreement", that is, at a pre-agreed price.
This very possibility, although legally permitted, in practice leaves wide scope for arbitrary pricing, especially when it comes to tourists who have no basis for comparison or know how much a certain route is actually worth.
However, the local government says that users must be clearly informed in advance about the method of calculation. "We believe that all taxi users must have clear and unambiguous information in advance about the method of calculation and the price of the service. If charging is not transparently agreed and implemented in accordance with regulations, it would be unacceptable and could certainly negatively affect the reputation of Bar as a tourist destination," the Municipality of Bar said.
They concluded that the Municipal Police and the Inspectorate will continue to conduct increased controls and act on every report within their jurisdiction, and that if the report contains elements that fall within the jurisdiction of state authorities, it will be forwarded to the competent institution for further action.
TO Bar will not comment.
"Vijesti" asked the Tourist Organization (TO) of Bar, headed by Marina Trceta (Social Democrats), whether this practice harms the image of Bar as a cruising destination and whether they have had any complaints from tourists, but there was no answer because, instead of taking a position on the problem that directly affects the guests' experience, they told the "Vijesti" editorial office that they can only answer questions within their jurisdiction, and that they cannot comment on questions that fall outside their authority.
"Vijesti" asked TO whether they were familiar with this topic and what their experience was, and whether they cooperate in any way with taxi operators in providing taxi services to guests arriving in Bar by cruise ship, whether they had contacted any of the competent institutions and services regarding this issue, and whether they considered this to be a justified offer of taxi services or, nevertheless, an unregulated practice that results in sending a negative image of hospitality and fair competition...
"Vijesti" also contacted cruise companies whose ships are docking in Bar this year, asking whether their passengers have reported such experiences and whether they are warning them about possible differences in local transportation prices.
By the time this issue was finalized, no responses had been received from Princess Cruises for the Sun Princess, Norwegian Cruise Line for the Norwegian Viva, or Celebrity Cruises for the Celebrity Constellation.
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