Prices for vacations on the Montenegrin coast in the main tourist season will be 30% higher than last year.
The increase in prices is mostly influenced by inflation, which in Montenegro last year was 17.2%, while since the beginning of this year, prices have risen by around 14 percent. The Association of Private Accommodation Providers expects their prices to be 10 to 30% higher in the main season.
We have been under attack since the covid pandemic. We still haven’t recovered from that since we didn’t have any subsidies or support programs. Inflation should now be added to that burden – says Branka Džoganović from the Association for Radio Free Europe (RSE).
According to data from the Budva Tourist Organization, average prices for a double room in private accommodation in the main season will be from 20 to 50 euros per person, and apartments for four people from 50 euros and more, depending on the category and location.
According to their data, the average price of a three-bed apartment in Petrovac near Budva is 15 to 35 euros, while in Budva the price is from 20 to 40 euros.
There are also last year’s prices
However, there are people who see business logic in maintaining last year’s prices.
Zoran Dragović from Petrovac says that it is necessary to adapt to the average paying power of guests from the region – Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.
I cannot tell a regular guest: everything has become more expensive, so I have to raise the price by 30%. Instead, I have to save it for some happy time and take on at least half of the inflation – says Dragović for RSE.
He explains that his business logic is that “it is better than ten thousand to lose a thousand, than to gain nothing”, because he believes that the “price element” rules.
As an example, he states that in one discount store he was restricted from buying a monthly supply of funds for the maintenance of the apartment, with the explanation that he could only buy two items each “so that people would not smuggle them”.
Hoteliers cautious with prices
The Montenegrin Tourist Association states that hoteliers have raised their prices this year by about ten percent, and that they are still cheaper than the competition in Croatia or Greece.
The season has started, we have already contracted the jobs and we are not allowed to raise the prices more than that. Those who go with high prices will “suffer” this summer – hotelier Žarko Radulović told RSE.
There are about 140 hotels in the Budva area, and services in them will be seven to twenty percent more expensive in the main tourist season, according to the local tourist organization.
The average price per person in a three-star hotel will be 28 to 46 euros, and in those in the higher category from 37 to 140 euros. Bed and breakfast in five-star hotels will cost from 160 to 270 euros per person.
Professor of economics and tourism, Ivo Županović, warns that the price policy should be shaped very carefully this summer, because economic growth of only 0.7% is predicted for the countries of the euro zone, and it will have a negative sign in Germany and Great Britain.
Also, the markets of Turkey, the Baltic countries, as well as Eastern and Central Europe will have inflation, not like last year, but still; all these factors should be taken into account if we want to have realistically balanced prices – says Županović for RSE.
As an example, he states that due to the inadequate pricing policy in private accommodation, last year that tourist segment had 20% less occupancy.
Tourists about the preseason
We were in the north of Montenegro, in Žabljak, and it’s extremely cheap there, and now we’ve been on the coast for a week where the prices are a bit higher, but it’s still really very favorable for us – says Susan from Great Britain in an RFE survey.
She also stayed in Croatia and says that Dubrovnik is “twice as expensive”.
Olga and Nikolaj from Moscow stay in Tivat’s Porto Montenegro, where the offer is exclusive, so the prices are more expensive than average:
Restaurants and shops here are quite expensive, but there are cheaper offers in the city, so we find what suits us, so prices are not a big problem for us.
Sanja and Ana from Serbia see no difference in prices in Novi Sad, where they live, and in Budva, where they are on vacation. The prices here are the same as in Serbia, they are not any more expensive – say these female students.
Offers for everyone’s budget
The variety of prices is most obvious in the catering offer, as it varies depending on the location and quality. The Budva catering association expects that in the main season their offer will be ten percent more expensive than a year ago.
In Budva, the most visited city on the Montenegrin coast, you can order a coffee at Slovenska beach for as little as 1.40 euros, while in the most famous city cafe, breakfast is 3.5 euros, and pizza, salads and pasta are 8 euros.
Those who want to treat themselves in one of the restaurants in the Old Town can order squid and octopus for 16 to 20 euros, and first category fish for 40 euros per kilogram.
There are also clients for expensive restaurants, such as those in Tivat’s Porto Montenegro, where the prices follow the exclusive offer.
There, famous chefs prepare a six-course lunch or dinner for 85 euros, and there are also restaurants that offer gastronomic delicacies such as Japanese Wagyu beef, which costs 600 euros per kilogram.
New prices on the beaches too
Those who are just planning their summer vacation budget should also factor in the prices on the beaches. In the first weeks of May, most beach tenants do not charge for beach furniture (umbrella, sunbeds), but their association says that prices during the main season will be 10 to 20% higher than last year.
This is due to higher labor costs, higher bank interest rates and inflation, Petar Delić from Ulcinj, who has been a tenant at Velika plaža for over 20 years, told RSE. Last year, renting an umbrella with two sunbeds cost 8 euros in the pre-season, and 10 euros in the middle of summer. Beach canopies are rented daily for 10 or 30 euros.
All rented beaches on the Montenegrin coast have a section intended for visitors who do not want to rent sunbeds and umbrellas, or have their own. Beach furniture is free on the leased part of the beach after 5 p.m.
And those who prefer to walk around the city in a bathing suit have to count on another expense.
From this summer it will be forbidden to walk in bathing suits in the area of the Old Town and on the streets of Budva. Those who do not respect that decision will pay a fine of 200 EUR.
