The return of Aman Sveti Stefan after a five-year closure gives Montenegro something more valuable than another high-priced hotel: it restores the country’s most recognisable tourism asset at a moment when the Adriatic market is becoming more competitive, visitors are staying for shorter periods and the government needs to extract more economic value from each arrival.
Tourism specialist Petar Golubović, director of Montenegro’s Centre for Tourism Research and Development, described the reopening as one of the most important events for the country’s tourism industry in the past decade. The significance lies in the return of both a globally recognised destination and Aman, an ultra-luxury operator whose customers often choose their destination according to the brand’s portfolio rather than the other way around.
That distinction matters for Montenegro. The country recorded 2.73mn tourist arrivals and 15.37mn overnight stays in 2025, with foreign visitors generating 95.8 per cent of all nights. Coastal resorts accounted for 92.6 per cent, underlining how heavily the economy remains concentrated on the Adriatic summer season. Arrivals increased compared with 2024, but total overnight stays declined, pointing to a shorter average visit and reinforcing the need to raise expenditure per guest rather than relying solely on additional volume.
Sveti Stefan is unusually well positioned to support that shift. Accommodation rates at the Aman complex exceed €1,500 per night for many categories and can rise much higher for premium suites during the summer. Guests at this level also spend on restaurants, wellness services, private transfers, yacht charters, marinas, cultural excursions, wine, events and personalised travel programmes. Their economic footprint therefore reaches beyond the hotel into Budva, Tivat, Kotor, the Bay of Kotor and Montenegro’s broader premium-service economy.
The resort’s return follows a settlement between the Government of Montenegro, leaseholder Adriatic Properties and other parties involved in arbitration before the London Court of International Arbitration. The dispute had kept the complex closed since 2021, following disagreements over access to beaches and the operating conditions required to preserve the privacy expected by Aman’s guests.
The settlement ends the parties’ claims and counterclaims, keeps the existing contractual framework in force and extends the lease by five years, corresponding to the period during which the resort was unable to operate. The arrangement also provides for a higher rental payment and gives the state a new entitlement to 10 per cent of the lessee’s annual profit. It establishes access rules for Sveti Stefan, Queen’s Beach and Miločer Beach, while also requiring measures intended to involve the local population and protect the cultural landscape.
Before the closure, annual rent was reported at approximately €1.9mn. The new rent has not been publicly quantified, making the actual improvement in the state’s guaranteed cash return difficult to measure. The profit-sharing clause introduces potential upside but will depend on how profit is defined, which expenses can be deducted and how transactions with the Aman operator, related companies, financiers and service providers are treated.
A 10 per cent profit share is not the same as 10 per cent of revenue or operating cash flow. A high-end hotel can record strong turnover while reporting limited net profit after management fees, depreciation, financing costs, capital expenditure and pre-opening expenses. The state will therefore need clear audit rights, consistent accounting rules and access to the resort’s financial statements if the profit-sharing mechanism is to produce a transparent and dependable fiscal return.
A broad operating scenario illustrates the scale. A complex of roughly 40–60 premium accommodation units, an achieved room rate of €1,500 and annual occupancy of 50–60 per cent could generate approximately €11mn–€20mn in room revenue. Restaurants, spa services, events and other guest spending could lift total property revenue towards €16mn–€30mn, depending on the length of the island’s operating season and the contribution of year-round Villa Miločer.
At a mature operating margin of 25–35 per cent, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation could reach approximately €4mn–€10mn. Net profit would be lower, particularly during the reopening period, leaving the state’s 10 per cent participation potentially worth several hundred thousand euros a year rather than millions. The larger fiscal benefit will come from the combination of rent, VAT, tourist taxes, employment contributions, corporate taxes and premium guest spending outside the resort.
The government previously estimated that the complex supported approximately 180–300 direct jobs during full operation, including permanent and seasonal positions. The supply chain extended into domestic transport, food, beverages, horticulture, maintenance and other hospitality services. Restoring those commercial relationships will be as important as rebuilding the hotel workforce after five inactive years.
Montenegro’s labour market presents a constraint. Luxury hotels require multilingual personnel, experienced chefs, wellness specialists, sommeliers, housekeeping teams trained to exacting standards and managers familiar with international service protocols. Many experienced tourism workers from the region have moved to Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany or cruise operators, where wages and career structures are often more attractive. Aman’s return can help reverse part of that flow, but only when employment is stable, training is continuous and compensation reflects the demands of the segment.
The operation is being restored in two complementary parts. Villa Miločer, the former royal residence on the mainland, is positioned as a year-round destination, while the historic island of Sveti Stefan operates seasonally. This structure gives the resort a route to extend activity beyond July and August through wellness, private gatherings, executive retreats, small conferences, cultural events and destination weddings.
Villa Miločer has only eight suites, so its year-round operation will not transform Montenegro’s national tourism statistics. Its strategic value lies in market signalling. A functioning ultra-luxury property outside the summer peak creates demand for winter air connections, private transport, premium restaurants and other services that are difficult to sustain when the coastal tourism economy shuts down after September.
Golubović sees the wider Sveti Stefan and Miločer area as capable of supporting luxury cultural and meetings tourism, rather than operating solely as accommodation. The island has already hosted exclusive weddings and private events and could be used selectively for concerts, exhibitions and international gatherings. Such programming would have to remain limited enough to protect the heritage and privacy that create the property’s commercial value.
The model also fits with the luxury-tourism cluster developing elsewhere on the Montenegrin coast. One&Only Portonovi, Regent Porto Montenegro, The Chedi Luštica Bay and premium hotels in Kotor and Perast have broadened the country’s international market beyond traditional summer apartments and tour-operator packages. One&Only Portonovi reportedly generated revenue of approximately €24mn in 2024, demonstrating that a relatively small number of high-end rooms can produce a disproportionate commercial effect.
Aman remains different because Sveti Stefan is not merely a hotel building. The fortified island, connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, is itself the tourism product. Its restored stone cottages, courtyards and lanes create an asset that cannot be replicated through conventional coastal construction. That scarcity supports pricing power and explains why the resort has retained global recognition despite being closed for five years.
The reopening also repairs part of the reputational damage caused by the dispute. An internationally known operator leaving Montenegro’s flagship resort closed for several seasons raised questions about contract durability, beach-management rules and the state’s ability to balance private investment with public access. The arbitration became a broader signal to hotel developers, lenders and international operators assessing the country.
The settlement indicates that Montenegro can resolve a complex investment dispute without terminating the concession or allowing the property to deteriorate indefinitely. The state secured higher rent, participation in profits, public-access provisions and the continuation of hotel operations, while the leaseholder obtained additional time and a framework under which Aman could return.
That compromise will only strengthen investor confidence when it is implemented consistently. Public bodies, the Municipality of Budva, coastal-zone manager Morsko Dobro, Adriatic Properties and the hotel operator must apply the agreed access rules without reopening the uncertainty that caused the closure. The commercial value of an Aman resort depends on guest privacy, but the legitimacy of the arrangement depends on the public understanding which beaches and paths remain accessible.
The future of Miločer Park presents a harder test. Construction at the former Kraljičina Plaža hotel site has long been controversial because of the scale of the structure and its position within one of Montenegro’s most valuable coastal landscapes. Golubović argues that a building of such dimensions should not originally have been planned there, but that leaving the unfinished concrete structure abandoned would create a permanent visual and economic loss.
The settlement envisages continuing the hotel project under the Janu brand, Aman Group’s more socially oriented sister concept, while excluding additional apartments. Removing residential units from the development equation is important because hotel-residence models can shift value towards private property sales while leaving the state and local economy with a weaker long-term tourism product.
Finishing the Janu hotel now requires an architecture-led mitigation strategy. Façades, rooflines, landscaping, natural materials, lighting, traffic access, wastewater infrastructure and construction logistics will have to reduce the structure’s impact on Miločer Park. Preservation of mature trees and the wider landscape cannot be treated as decorative work at the end of construction; it must shape the remaining design and engineering decisions.
The commercial rationale for completing the project is stronger than the argument for leaving it unfinished. A partially built structure produces no rent, hotel revenue, employment or tourism tax, while continuing to impair the park’s appearance. Completion can recover economic value, but it does not erase the planning mistakes that created the conflict. The final product will be judged on whether it behaves as a low-density luxury hotel integrated into the landscape or as a large real-estate development inserted into a protected coastal setting.
The reported possibility of another Aman resort on Durmitor adds a more ambitious dimension. Such a project remains prospective, but a sea-and-mountain pairing could give Montenegro a rare luxury circuit within a compact territory. Guests could combine Sveti Stefan and the Bay of Kotor with Durmitor National Park, Žabljak, Tara Canyon and northern Montenegro without the long domestic transfers required in larger countries.
The economic case would rest on a longer season and higher spending in the north. A small ultra-luxury mountain resort could support guiding, adventure tourism, local agriculture, food production and high-end transport while creating year-round employment. It could also diversify tourism investment away from an already congested coastline.
The constraints would be substantial. Any Durmitor development associated with Aman would require an exceptionally careful approach to protected areas, water resources, wastewater, visual impact, road access and construction density. The Aman name would raise expectations that the project should preserve rather than consume the landscape. A conventional apartment-led mountain development would weaken the very exclusivity the brand is intended to create.
Montenegro’s infrastructure will determine how much of Aman’s return can be converted into wider economic value. Tivat Airport remains heavily congested during the summer and has limited capacity for year-round growth. Road congestion around Budva and the Bay of Kotor reduces travel reliability, while wastewater, coastal cleanliness, electricity supply and waste management affect the experience outside hotel boundaries. An ultra-luxury resort cannot fully insulate its guests from destination-level infrastructure failures.
The government’s tourism strategy must therefore connect premium hotels with airports, roads, marinas, environmental services and local suppliers. Aman can bring customers prepared to pay €1,500–€5,000 per night, but the surrounding economy captures more value only when local companies can meet the required standards. Food producers need reliable quantities and certification, transport operators need premium vehicles and trained drivers, and cultural institutions need products that can be integrated into private itineraries.
Sveti Stefan’s scale means it will never dominate national arrival figures. Its leverage comes from price, reputation and its ability to influence how Montenegro is perceived. The closure removed a flagship asset while competitors in Greece, Croatia, Italy and Turkey invested heavily in branded resorts, marinas and luxury residences. Its return restores a reference point around which the country can market a higher-value tourism proposition.
The settlement has brought the state, investor and hotel operator back into the same commercial structure, but the durability of that structure will depend on disciplined implementation. Transparent profit accounting, predictable access rules, completion of Miločer without further damage to the landscape and stronger connections with domestic suppliers will determine whether Aman’s reopening produces more than a successful summer season.
Montenegro already has the scenery and international recognition needed for premium tourism. Sveti Stefan provides the missing anchor: a globally scarce hospitality asset capable of raising average rates, drawing high-spending visitors and supporting a more valuable tourism economy without requiring millions of additional arrivals.
