The National Tourist Organization (NTO) and the national airline Air Montenegro organized business workshops in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in anticipation of the opening of new airlines, Brno-Tivat and Bratislava-Podgorica.
NTO announced that, during business workshops in Brno and Bratislava, on Monday and Tuesday, representatives of NTO, Air Montenegro, local tourist organizations and the tourism industry had the opportunity to meet with over 50 representatives of tour operators and media from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
On that occasion, presentations were held, during which the attractiveness of Montenegro was presented, and numerous meetings were held with tourist agents and journalists.
The representative of Air Montenegro in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Pavel Točik, who has many years of experience in tourism and is in direct contact with Czech and Slovak tour operators, said that there is great interest in flights to Montenegro and that it was necessary to organize workshops in order to show them which Montenegro offers all the possibilities.
“When it comes to the Czech Republic, last year’s flights to Prague showed that interest in Montenegro is increasing, and tour operators are increasingly interested in including Montenegro in their programs or rich programs for Montenegro, which they already offer to their clients. So we are extremely pleased that another Czech city will be connected to Montenegro. Tour operators from Slovakia are very interested in your destination, and we have justified high expectations for the new Bratislava-Podgorica airline,” said Točik.
The workshop in Brno was attended by over 30 representatives of tour operators and travel agencies, among them some of the most important tour operators on this market, such as DER Touristik, České Kormidlo, EMMA and others, while the workshops in Bratislava, in addition to prominent tour operators on that market , attended by the media and influencers. A representative of one of the largest tour operators in Slovakia, Fischer shares optimism when it comes to interest in Montenegro in this market.
“We are looking forward to having the opportunity to present Montenegro to our clients this year with direct flights from Bratislava. I’m sure that the interest will be significantly higher as a result. Our tourists are interested in the sea, nature, outdoor activities, and Montenegro can offer them all that,” said Marcel Siekel in front of the Fischer tour operator.
The director of sales of Air Montenegro, Dejan Pižurica, said that the opening of new airlines is of great importance for strategic positioning in the markets of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“In the past period, we made great efforts to launch flights to these destinations, recognizing the great interest from these markets, which was also proven at these workshops. This improved air connectivity with the important market of the Czech Republic, and regular flights to Bratislava were established for the first time. The first flight on the route Brno – Tivat is expected on June 15th, and we will fly twice a week until September 23rd, while flights on the route Podgorica – Bratislava will operate from June 17th to September 23rd, twice a week,” Pižurica said.
The representative of NTO, Milena Vujović, said that the two workshops are of great importance, because the previous year showed growing trends when it comes to interest and visits from this market.
“Last year, we had twice as many tourists from the markets of Slovakia and the Czech Republic compared to the previous year, and we believe that the new airlines will contribute to becoming an even more attractive destination for the aforementioned markets. NTO Montenegro will continue numerous other activities aimed at these markets in the coming period”, said Vujović.
The representative of Bratislava Airport, Daniel Kula, announced that the workshop is the first step towards the promotion of Montenegro on the Slovakian market and that Montenegro can be extremely interesting for their tourists for various types of vacations.
“I am of the opinion that Montenegro has something special compared to other Mediterranean destinations, which is a perfect combination of coast and mountains. The presentation showed some wonderful places, which I had the opportunity to visit, and I am really pleased that we showed them to our tour operators and the media. With joint cooperation, I am sure that we can promote Montenegro as one of the most attractive holiday destinations in a short period of time”, said Kula.
The representative of TO Herceg Novi, Dalibor Vuković, represented three local tourist organizations, Herceg Novi, Kotor and Tivat, at business workshops in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and presented the tourist offer of the Bokokor Bay.
“I am very pleased that I had the honor to present on behalf of my colleagues what the region of the Bay of Kotor has to offer. The workshops in Brno and Bratislava are really a hit, organized at an excellent level, and it is very important to promote the destination as well as new airlines in this way,” said Vuković.
He said that Czech and Slovak tour operators have shown great interest. “Significant contacts with the media were made, and we learned something new about these markets, which is of great importance to us,” Vuković added.
According to Jovana Đukanović, director of sales at the company Beppler&Jacobson Montenegro, namely the hotels Avala Resort&Villas and Bianca Resort &Spa, the workshop in Bratislava was extremely successful because they managed to negotiate the sale of their capacities to one of the larger tour operators from Slovakia.
“Thanks to NTO and the airline Air Montenegro, we managed to present the Avala hotel at a business workshop in Bratislava, where great interest in our destination was expressed. In the coming period, we should be focused on intensifying communication and promotion in order to attract more tourists from markets such as Slovakia,” said Đukanović.
In addition to NTO and the airline Air Montenegro, the local tourist organizations of Herceg Novi, Kotor and Tivat, travel agencies Montenegro Tourist Service and Mon Joy and the hotel Avala Resort&Villas participated in the business workshops in Brno and Bratislava.
