Since the start of the summer tourist season, the Tourism Inspectorate has had about four thousand controls, where half of them have identified certain irregularities. So far, according to the chief tourist inspector Svetlana Sljivancanin, 20 restaurants and four beaches have been sealed.
“Based on these irregularities, we issued 1.724 misdemeanor warrants in the amount of EUR 850.790. As you can see, these fines are not small, but in any case, in some segments of tourism, the situation is that the quality of service is at a much higher level than in previous years,” said Sljivancanin.
Due to work without approval, the Tourism Inspectorate has fined about 50,000 euros this season.
Significant irregularities were noted in the organization of the beach rescue service. The law stipulates that during July and August there needs to be one lifeguard at the beaches on every 50 meters.
"We now have about 600 licensed lifeguards, which means that it is not enough to cover all our beaches that are operational. We find tenants who cannot abide by this rule, we warn them, and after the warning, we have to impose fines, so far we have issued 128 misdemeanor warrants in the amount of 75.200 euros," Sljivancanin said.
The largest part of the gray economy, Sljivancanin says, was in the transport of passengers by taxi. This season the situation is slightly better.
"Because of our joint activities with colleagues from the UP, the Maritime Safety Directorate, we have been able, this year, to get a greater number of these entities to comply with the law and have a license to work on this basis," said the chief tourist inspector.
Sljivancanin also says that tenants who did not follow the rule that half the beach must be exempt from sunbeds and other beach furniture were penalized.
The tourist inspection also reminds that the tenant is obliged to indicate the time for charging the beach furniture, which means that the law does not stipulate that this should happen after 5 pm.
"When inspectors come to the field, if they find that the sunbeds are charged beyond the time indicated on the information board, they will then take action and measurements. On this basis, we had 38 complaints from citizens and on each basis, we went out to the field and established the facts. However, the tenants still respected the prominent payment time of the beach furniture," said the chief tourist inspector.
Sljivancanin also advises that the caterers have 30 days to adapt to the new regulations, which are defined by the new Law on the Use of Tobacco Products. After that, the inspections will start with penalties.
Text by Boka News, on August 27th, 2019, read more at Boka News
