The number of Dutch tourists visiting Herceg Novi and Boka Kotor is significant, but it could be significantly higher, the municipality of Herceg Novi announced.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands based in Belgrade, Theodorus Antonius Reintjes, visited the first official Municipality of Herceg Novi, where he discussed with its representatives the improvement of tourism cooperation, the possibility of introducing airlines between the two countries, as well as ship ecological lines that would connected the cities of Boka Kotor and the Montenegrin coast.
The President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Stevan Katic, recalled the growth trend in the arrival of Dutch tourists in the period from 2017 to 2019.
“During 2019, there were about seven thousand tourists from the Netherlands in the city, with 30 thousand overnight stays. After the pandemic, the trend of returning Dutch tourists is starting this year, with 12,000 nights spent”, said Katic.
The need for additional introduction of airlines in relation to the interest of Dutch tourists was pointed out.
“The ambassador has already taken the first steps, and we as a city have given additional support to ease traffic and speed up the border crossing, where during the season you have to wait for several hours to enter Montenegro. We have to make better use of the second border crossing, that is, that part of the tourists who use the airport in Dubrovnik and for excursions are directed to the Kobila border crossing”, stated Katic.
He recalled that a year ago a joint meeting was held in Tivat with the president of that municipality, Željko Komnenović, where there was talk of the possibility of the Dutch company Damen introducing an ecological shipping line, to speed up traffic, especially when there are big crowds during the season.
“One of the topics of the meeting was water transport, especially in the summer months, as well as how to enable tourists, as well as citizens of Montenegro, to travel faster to Tivat, Kotor, Tivat Airport, Herceg Novi, Perast.” We discussed the possibilities of introducing water taxis, as well as the ferry in Boka that transports vehicles, but also tourism in general”, said Reintjes.
The ring road around Herceg Novi was also mentioned as an important infrastructure project, which would significantly accelerate the transit of people and goods through Boka Kotorska, especially during the summer months, local media reports.
