"The renovation of the hotel Mogren is now an open question, and it is still at the level of plans that depend on obtaining the approval of the competencies, drafting the project documentation and further steps to realize the adaptation," she told Dnevne novine.
The hotels of the Budva Riviera this year's summer tourist season started at the beginning of April, opening the first hotel Aleksandar on 12th, then the Castellastva hotel on 27th, the tourist resort Slovenska beach on 28th April and hotel Mogren after the adaptation on May 20th.
"For the first time, Hotel Palas, with a new offer and a conceptually customized package of arrangements, had a full year of work. By the end of the ninth month of this year, almost 464,000 overnight stays were recorded, with an increase in traffic volume and a difference of 11,500 overnights compared to last year. We are ending the post-season period, and we are still in the line of good work outcomes, with a physical turnover of more than 20,000 overnight stays in October, which will eventually have a 29 percent increase in relation to the year 2017, " Kažanegra said.
As she pointed out, all the data that exceeded even the planned figures in one part of the season stand to show about the success of another tourist season and the increased turnover indicators.
"What characterized this tourist year is the extension of hotels Aleksandar and Castellastva, which closed on the 14th, and Slovenska beach on October 25th, thus marking a return to the six-month tourist seasons. The Hotel Palas will continue to be open during the winter as the previous years, with special emphasis on offering family, wellness and romantic tourist arrangements," she said.
According to Kažanegra, this tourist season has, over the previous years, marked a remarkable effort to find the appropriately qualified staff for seasonal jobs. "Due to the specificity of the tourism industry and versatile position of the employed, and the need for recruiting the necessary qualified staff in the so-called production segment of the tourism industry - the cooks, the food and beverage segment managers are a long-term aggravating circumstance in lacking the necessary staff in the Montenegrin labor market. Thus, it was very difficult to plan seasonal workforce costs. HG Budva Riviera, according to the original plan of the number of seasonal workers for this tourist season, projected a total of 595 employees. Nevertheless, this figure has been exceeded in part of the high tourist season with more than 600 seasonal workers. Despite all the problems and obstacles, the seasonal jobs company employs most of the domestic workforce through the Employment Service of Montenegro, for more than 95%, except in extraordinary cases where a certain profile is lacking in the records of this institution," says Kažanegra.
Up to 40 million euros have been invested in the reconstruction of the hotel group so far. "The tourism industry is steadily rising, and it is very difficult to keep up with the novelties offered if they are not constantly investing in quality of service. Variety and competition in hotel offerings, for responsible business, is a constant investment in innovating tourism products. HG Budva Riviera began the hotel adaptation cycle 10 years ago. This is a very demanding project, considering the age of the facilities, including those that opened 40 years ago. But it turned out that quality has brought new good results in the years after the hotel's adaptation and it justified the idea and the realization of works that set new standards in Montenegro's tourist offer, " Kažanegra said.
New investments, she adds, have also led to new broadcasting markets, and the return of those emitting, which has had a small number of tourists in recent years.
"At the same time, the group formed the so-called club hotel. Therefore, in 2014 the Toucan Club family hotel operates in Petrovac in the hotel Castellastva. After renovations last year, Hotel Aleksandar was opened as the first family-run Blue Star hotel in Montenegro. Also, on Slovenska beach there is a renovated restaurant with a four-star category. Apart from renovating the hotel, investment in the quality of the tourist product was also related to the introduction of new quality standards. After obtaining the Eco-Label certificate and implementing HACCP standards, Budva Riviera is among the first tourist houses in Montenegro where ISO standards have been introduced in the quality management, environmental management and food safety management. It is also expected that the Travel Life certificate will be issued, which is another confirmation of the orientation towards the markets of Northwest Europe, which immensely value this business component," Kažanegra said.
Text by Dnevne novine, on October 29th, 2018, read more at CdM
