The expected economic growth should be given a tailwind by the announced record tourist season. However, its beginning, at least according to the number of registered guests, is far from a record. It is expected that the peak season will make up for the minuses.
The main part of the tourist season, the so-called peak, started on July 15th. The fact that the season is in full swing is confirmed by traffic jams and tourist spots, and the weather is in everyone’s hands.
However, this was not the case at the beginning of the season, so the tourism industry hopes to make up for the losses from the beginning of June by the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
As Ćamil Hodžić from the Ulcinj Riviera said, as far as the financial part is concerned, they are better than last year in terms of the number of overnight stays.
– The announcements for this part that we have left are very good and we believe that it will continue – Hodžić is optimistic.
According to Branka Džoganović from the Private Accommodation Association, they are approximately 60-70% occupied.
– Confirmation of bookings is over 90%, so I think we will do well this peak season itself – she said.
The Association notes good occupancy from the Russian and Ukrainian markets.
– We all know that these are people who came to live with us for the long term due to life circumstances, so at the start we have this information that does not match the situation on the ground – she clarified.
It is difficult to assess whether the season will be a record one as announced, because, as Professor Rade Ratković says, we still do not have precise and up-to-date data.
– I think it is frivolous to dream and talk about records in a situation where we are penetrated into the poorest markets in Europe and the poor structure of accommodation capacities where apartments dominate – he said.
And that’s not the only problem. There are still no precise data, but it is estimated that the official statistics on the number of tourists this year do not reflect the true situation.
The interlocutors of TVCG claim that the problem of non-reporting of guests is decreasing, but they also point to something else.
– God forbid any situation should happen, if the guest is not registered, we don’t know how to reach that guest. But it definitely has to be worked on. It’s for everyone’s benefit. Both citizens and tourists and the tourism industry and ultimately the image of the destination itself – said Hodžić.
In order to have as much money as possible in the state coffers, better records are necessary, not only of guests but also of tourist traffic.
That problem was solved a long time ago by all the Mediterranean countries, and eight years ago by our neighbors from Croatia.
– They have the so-called Visitor and there is all the data that is needed: on tourist offer and tourist demand, on tourist traffic both financial and natural, so that should be the first task. We have been appealing to that for several decades without success, especially recently. Without that, we don’t have instruments for managing the destination, and that’s why everything we say about tourism and the season cannot be the real truth, but speculation – concluded Ratković.
That is why the shortcomings of the way in which tourists are counted in Montenegro are best seen when the accounts are settled, so every year the official data of the institutions on the number of guests and income from tourism differ.
