Floods and Ukraine Crisis Threaten Montenegro Tourism

Travel agencies, hotels and private accommodation have already recorded a decline in the number of tourists compared to the same period last year, the Montenegrin National Tourist Organization announced on Monday.

It said that there are currently 15 per cent fewer tourists in the country than in 2013.
The organization’s director, Sasa Radovic, warned that action was needed to boost numbers.

"We need further engagement in order to retained the number of tourists with those markets during the summer holiday season at last year's level," Radovic said.

Government data from April showed that Montenegro was visited by 1.5 million tourists in 2013  and income from tourism was 721 million euro.

However according to a report issued in May by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Montenegro may suffer a significant drop in the number of Russian tourists .
Russians make up about 35 per cent of the total number of tourists who visit Montenegro and the country is considered to be the preferred destination of Russian oligarchs.

In 2013, there about 300,000 Russian tourists visited Montenegrin coastal towns, and according to local surveys, more than 40 per cent of real estate in Montenegro belongs to Russians.

But relations between Montenegro and Russia have cooled after Podgorica joined EU sanctions against Moscow over the annexation of Crimea.

However the tourism authorities in Montenegro believe that the holiday season can still be saved.

Last week, the Montenegrin National Tourist Organization made a presentation in the Belarussian capital Minsk, and said that it expects 30,000 guests from the ex-Soviet state.

The national air carrier, Montenegro Airlines, has recorded a rise in...