Montenegro is preparing a €1.37 million national tourism information system aimed at bringing more private accommodation into the formal economy and improving collection of revenue that a government-backed analysis estimates is being lost at a rate of around €86 million a year.
The Tourism Ministry has launched procurement for the new system, with bids due by Oct. 7 and implementation planned over 12 months in six phases.
The platform is intended to centralise accommodation records, guest registration and check-in and check-out data while improving information available to tourism authorities, municipalities and inspectors.
It would also provide a stronger basis for monitoring taxes and fees associated with accommodation.
The proposed system targets one of Montenegro’s largest remaining areas of informal economic activity.
Private apartments, houses and rooms represent a substantial share of the country’s tourism capacity, particularly along the coast, but official registers do not always capture the full scale of activity marketed through digital booking platforms.
A government-backed assessment estimates that unregistered accommodation, outdated records and weak collection mechanisms are associated with about €86 million in lost annual revenue.
The estimate excludes some indirect losses, including tourist taxes, meaning the total fiscal effect could be higher depending on the methodology used.
The new system would give inspectors more immediate access to accommodation and visitor data, reducing dependence on physical inspections and fragmented municipal databases.
That approach is increasingly important as tourism transactions move online.
Montenegro is separately preparing closer data exchange with platforms including Booking.com and Airbnb, which could allow authorities to compare online listings and bookings with domestic registrations and tax declarations.
Together, the measures could materially increase visibility over private accommodation.
For compliant operators, stronger enforcement could reduce competition from landlords that avoid registration, taxes or tourism charges.
For informal hosts, online marketing would increasingly leave a digital record that can be matched against government databases.
The reform also has a statistical benefit.
Montenegro’s official tourism figures can understate activity when visitors staying in private accommodation are not properly registered.
More complete data would give policymakers, investors and hotel operators a better view of actual visitor volumes, source markets and seasonal demand.
That becomes increasingly important as Montenegro debates whether tourism should continue pursuing visitor growth or focus more strongly on revenue per guest and a longer season.
Municipal finances could also benefit.
Coastal local governments depend on tourist taxes and other tourism-related revenue but have different levels of administrative capacity.
A national system could reduce those disparities by creating a common data infrastructure.
The investment itself is modest compared with the scale of potential revenue identified.
A €1.37 million system would represent less than 2% of the estimated €86 million annual gap.
The economic return could therefore be substantial even if authorities recover only a fraction of the estimated leakage.
Implementation will be the harder test.
A central database will improve enforcement only if accommodation providers, municipalities, tax authorities and booking platforms supply timely and compatible information.
Authorities will also need to avoid creating reporting requirements that unnecessarily increase administrative costs for legitimate small landlords.
Montenegro’s tourism market depends heavily on private accommodation, so the objective is formalisation rather than pushing small operators out of the market.
The project fits a wider shift in Montenegro’s tax administration toward digital enforcement.
Electronic invoicing, new tax registers and automated platform data are gradually replacing a system dependent heavily on inspections.
Tourism is an obvious target because much of the market is already digitally visible to customers even when it remains partly invisible to the state.
The new system could narrow that gap.
Montenegro already attracts millions of visitors each year. The fiscal opportunity now lies increasingly in ensuring that accommodation already being sold is properly registered, measured and taxed.
