Montenegro earned seven million euros less from tourism in the first eight months than in the same period last year

Montenegro earned seven million euros less from tourism in the first eight months than in the same period last year, according to data published in the Reflektor show on Television Vijesti.

At the same time, we also have almost 400 thousand fewer overnight stays.

While the relevant ministry has spread optimism to the public about the data on the larger number of guests, tourism workers and the economy say that this is little consolation because it is clear that tourists in Montenegro are staying for shorter periods and spending less, and they expect the negative trend to continue next year, unless the authorities' current approach changes.

Seven million euros less from tourism in Montenegro, from January to August, is the data that was obtained by analyzing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the balance of tourism revenues in the world, which was published on the website of that international financial organization.

While the Government has not yet commented on this data, the Chamber of Commerce said on the Reflektor show that the situation is not good.

"That's alarming, we'll see what the third quarter will be like because we know that the third quarter generates the highest income from tourism because we are an extremely seasonal industry. But if that trend continues in the third quarter, then that's really alarming," said Sanja Marković from the Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to the multi-million-dollar deficit in revenue, the opposition is also devastated by the fact that there were almost 400.000 fewer overnight stays compared to the same period last year. They say this was due to previous wrong moves by the government, which led to the closure of Sveti Stefan, the shutdown of Montenegro Airlines, the increase in VAT for the tourism industry, as well as old problems - dug-up roads and garbage.

"In the last 20 years, the weakest season was 2024. Well, 2025, ending with August, is even worse than 2024. So, the results are very bad," said Nikola Rakočević, a member of parliament from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).

Estimates of the number of guests and overnight stays are made by Monstar, while the revenue data was processed by the Central Bank, which, however, has temporarily suspended this process since May. After a revision of the methodology and quality of data sources, which they have done in cooperation with the IMF, they will soon publish the data again, although they believe that this should be taken over by the Government. Apart from the drop in revenue and other poor parameters in this tourist year, there is still one bright spot – tax collection.

"If we look at the entire year, we are about eight million euros above last year, in total, meaning without September 30th, which always brings about 10 to 15 million in revenue on that last day due to the payment of salaries," said Sava Laketić, Director of the Tax Administration.

The economy and those who make a living from tourism warn that the image of an attractive tourist destination cannot be built with roads that are rutted in the height of the season, huge crowds, high prices that do not match the quality of service, and airports that urgently need modernization and capacity expansion.

Because of all of the above, Montenegro is losing the race to its competitors on the Adriatic, primarily Albania and Croatia...