The summer tourist season is not up to par, the peak is late, and tourism officials see the key problem in the lack of direct airlines and the fact that Montenegro is not an air-accessible destination.
They warn that after the coronavirus pandemic, a series of bad seasons continues, with shorter peak times and fewer elite guests, but also that there is a possibility that this is a consequence of high prices, which, as they claim, they were forced to pay due to increased employee wages and food price increases.
The director of the Hotel Riviera in Petrovac, Nemanja Kovačević, said that the season is not up to par and that the peak season is late, as well as that without direct airlines from Western European and Nordic markets, there is no tourism or elite tourists in Montenegro.
“This year, Montenegro has only 13 flights a week from Germany, which has a population of 80 million, and ten flights a week from France, with a population of 60 million.” It is a devastating fact that shows that we are not an air-accessible destination as it should be, if we want the season to produce results and be a driving force for the development of the economy. The peak season has been postponed, the season is not up to par, so now the prices are coming down,” Kovačević announced.
He believes that in the case of better air connectivity, there would be more interest.
“You go on vacation with direct flights, and we don’t have enough of those flights.” In other words, we have ridiculously few of them, that is the key problem. And then we, private individuals, suffer collectively, and we have no one to support us,” explained Kovačević.
According to him, pre-season and post-season are done with groups where profits are close to zero.
“Earnings are at a minimum. Then we have a labor problem. The state policy is not flexible enough to bring labor from abroad, from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand. It all adds up to a combination of factors that results in us not having the season we should be having. “In Petrovac, hotels are now at about 70 percent occupancy or even less, and private accommodation is not yet full,” Kovačević said.
He added that hoteliers in Petrovac have now lowered their prices, so a double room with half board can be found in a four-star hotel at a price of EUR 90 per night.
“Now there are last minute prices, which is funny because this is the peak season and everything should be full and it should be 200 EUR for a double room in a four-star hotel,” Kovačević said.
He announced that he is waiting for August to see what will happen.
“It happens that after the pandemic, the continuity of bad tourist seasons continues. Montenegro as a tourist destination has been experiencing bad, chaotic tourism for a long time. Tourists usually arrive unannounced by car from the region and then ask at the reception what we have to offer them. There is no interest, no inquiries, we are not available by air, there is no development strategy. The national airline is doing a poor job since there is no Eastern European market. Our focus should be on Western Europe and the Nordic countries,” Kovačević said.
The director of the Forza Mare Hotel, restaurant and pastry shop in Kotor and Porto Montenegro, Bojan Joketić, confirmed that the season is bad. They have a smaller family hotel, so it’s easy to fill it up, but he notices that it’s not like that with the others. As he said, he cannot evaluate the season, because it is strange and unpredictable.
“It’s a strange season, less is spent.” There are no workers, and there is no control. Inspections do not work as they should, everything is spontaneous. If something is ideal – it is not,” said Joketić.
He added that guests are currently paying less than in previous years.
“Perhaps the reason is that we raised the prices a little, but the salaries of the workers also went up, and some other things, so the prices also increased.” The price increases are caused by the salaries of workers, which are significantly higher this year. You are forced to pay the maid a thousand EUR. The waiter is asking for 1.2 thousand EUR, but he knows how to do the job, well, everything, and he doesn’t even know how to carry a tray. Croatia has the same problem. “Everything that happens there reflects on us,” Joketić said.
He added that there are people in Kotor, but that more were expected.
“There’s talk of a record season, but it’s not quite like that.” March, April and the first half of May were excellent, and then from May 15th there is a decline. June and July failed. There are only traffic jams, nothing else. It may be our fault that we raised the prices a lot, but everything depends on each other,” announced Joketić.
The director of the Association of Private Accommodation Providers in Montenegro, Branka Džoganović, recalled that last year the season started around July 20th.
“We can say that this year the guests started earlier, but as we have been hearing for months about the fantastic occupancy of the hotel, a certain, unrealistic for our conditions, expectation was created. We do not have real statistics, the initial data are not appropriate, because they include both tourists and seasonal workers and immigrants. Years ago, the season in private accommodation for the majority lasted 30 to 40 days,” said Džoganović.
