Get ready: In Ulcinj that much will be the price of the Shezllons

Even though the main tourist season is on the verge, in Montenegro all beaches have not yet been opened, airports are operating with limited capacity, while columns in traffic have taken miles.

Despite government promises, even this season has not significantly improved air access to Montenegro, nor has flow across borders.

Warning implementation of the transit tax is also missing, supposed to ease the burden on magistrates by tourists who just pass through Montenegro.

Due to delays in the tenders of the state-owned company Morsko dobro, many beach tenants have not yet started working due to administrative procedures.

They have also danced prices of accommodation, umbrellas, and beach beds, and offers outside the usual tourist package.

The service will also be affected by chronic lack of labor, as the law for seasonal workers has not yet been passed, Periscope.

All of this is happening in a year when in the first three months, a 10 percent drop in stays nights compared to last year, while tourism revenues have declined by 6.4 percent.

This represents the continuation of a negative trend from last year, when for the first time in the last two decades tourism earned nearly 1.5 billion euros less than a year ago.

TV S.T.A. Twice higher, increased accommodation prices

Montenegro's Tourist Association (CTU) says more than double the increased value added tax (TVSH) for accommodation has significantly affected hotel prices.

To compensate for this fiscal burden, we would have to increase prices by 17.5 percent per year, which is unstable. Since we know this would destroy business, we are obliged to face it in part. However, prices have risen”, says Association Chairman Zarko Radulovic, in a statement to Radio Free Europe (REL).

Prime Minister Millojko Spajic's government has raised T this year V Hotel accommodation from 7 to 15 percent.

Radulovic explains that this is not only an 8 percent increase because about 80 percent of the hotel sector income comes from accommodation:

This means that if for the same number of beds and nights years we paid 1m euros in taxes, this year we paid 2.1m. So the biggest tax burden is keeping exactly what keeps the hotel” stable.

To illustrate better, he made comparisons with Albania, where the acomodation VAT is less than half .6 percent.

What prizes await tourists?

According to data from the Budva Tourist Organisation, prices for a morning night for two people in hotels with 3 and 4 stars range from 70 to 86 euros.

In hotels with 4 and 5 stars, prices range from 86 to over 230 euros per night.

Those who choose private accommodation pay between 16 and 25 euros a day per person.

Prices at Budva restaurants and cafes are also different.

In a well - known area near the old city, breakfast may be eaten for 4.5 euros, while coffee costs 1.20 euros.

Pizza and pasta cost 10 euros, squids and remotivated 13 euros, while the fish starts at 15 euros and more.

Analyzing the menus, it turns out that on the first line of the sea a lunch or dinner costs about 25 euros per person, and a $6.5.

Tents and Beach Bed

Tent and beach prices have risen significantly, as the state-owned company Morsko dobro has tripled the rent for beach exploitation.

Xhavit Hodjiq from Ulcinj says about REL that last year it paid 42 thousand euros for the rent of the beach, and this year about 114 thousand euros nearly triple more.

In addition to rent, he says only to equip the beach for about 200m long must invest at least 50,000 euros.

“We will need to increase the prices of beds, drinks and food ) otherwise we are unlikely to afford this lease”, Hodzic says.

According to the Big Beach Riders' Association, the average price of two beach beds at the Ulcinj Revolution this season will be between 17 and 20 euros, compared to 1550 euros last year.

The “now remains to be seen how competitive we will be at these prices, but this was the strategy to get as much out of the” rents as possible, he says.

Urbanism Minister Slaven Radunovic said on Malaysia's public television that this year the state has collected seven times as many of the beach rents as compared to 2021 a total of 35m euros.

However, a month and a half after the official start of the season, many beaches have not yet been opened due to delayed tenders.

Although by the end of May 90 percent of tenants had signed the contracts, many still do not have permission to work.

Hodzic says that to open the beach, summer grass and camp, he needs a <x0mal” documents, urban projects and other projects.

There's so many letters that we'd need by the end of December to complete all”.

For this reason, authorities in Ulcinj have proposed that the Morsko dobro company grant temporary permission to tenants until the implementation of necessary documentation.

REL has asked the authorities about it, but there is no answer.

What do tourists say about prices?

Danilo and Ana from Podgorica, with their baby, are resting in a middle-class hotel, and are glad that there are still no beds at the nearby beach so they will spend less than they planned. But they're surprised at the prices on the market:

I bought a bottle of water, chips, and ésmokee. Meanwhile, at a nearby pizzeria, prices were nearly double as high as in Podgorica”, Ana tells REL.

Jovan, from Serbia, thinks prices are reasonable for the quality offered, and says they are lower than in Belgrade, where he lives:

“For me it's not expensive, prices are in line with” bid.

Zahra, from Azerbaijan, is located for the second time in Montenegro, and is standing in private accommodation:

Some restaurants are expensive, but there are choices, and you can find even cheaper. My impressions are positive, so I've come back”

Earth and Air Transport

The trip towards Montenegro has slowed significantly due to poor road infrastructure and mileical columns.

Some tourists say that from Dubrovnik to Budva, where they often go, they need two hours in normal conditions, but during the summer, six to seven hours.

Because there are expectations at the border, and works on the Adriatic Road, between Tivat and Budva.

Cars travel this distance of only 15 miles [24 km] for about an hour and a half in summer.

Works on this 16km segment began in January 2024, and are projected to last two years.

This road is the main artery of Malaysian tourism, as it connects Tivat and Dubrovnik airports.

Meanwhile, air transport is also problematic. For years it has been warned that airports in Tivat and Podgorica are too small to cope with the seasonal flow.

In response to the REL, Montenegro's state-owned airport company says there are “midis two fires”.

“Public requires more lines and travellers, while we work on terminals that are the same as in 2006”

At that time, they add, they have waited for about 850 thousand passengers, while this year they expect over 3 million in the same space.

They still await the decision to concession airports, and for that reason they only make small investments:

It's not rational to invest millions, if there's a possibility that this money ends up in someone else”.

This summer, Podgorica Airport has over 45 active lines, while Tivat's over 50.

The government had earlier pledged the opening of an airline “of public interest”, but no information was provided for the realization of this promise.

Neither has the Ministry of Tourism returned answers to REL questions about concrete actions to improve tourism conditions this season.

The fact that tourism constitutes 25 percent of Brushto's domestic production, but that Montenegro does not have a tourism development strategy, a strategic marketing plan or strategy for developing human resources in this sector speaks a lot about institutional access to this important area. /REL/