25 June 2019 - Read the essential advice for festival-goers this year by the British Embassy in Montenegro - how to stay safe so you can have a good time.

Montenegro is a popular music festival destination. Southern Soul Festival is a boutique festival in Ulcinj and Sea Dance Festival is the coastal sister of EXIT music festival in Budva, organised this year from 26 June to 2 July and from 30 August to 1 September 2019 respectively. Other music festivals run from June to September throughout Montenegro.

Whilst the majority of thousands of festival goers have a great time in Montenegro with no problems, for those who might require assistance, the British Embassy in Montenegro has prepared all the basic information they could need in order to organize their journey and stay safe.

Before you set off for Montenegro, do these simple tasks:

1. get travel insurance and check what it covers – European health insurance is not valid in Montenegro
2. leave a photocopy of your passport with your family in your native country
3. fill in the last page of your passport with your emergency contacts
4. check with the festival organisers if you can pre-book a safety locker at the festival
5. check the location of the embassy of your country in Montenegro

When you arrive, make sure you:

1. register with the police, local tourist organisation or accommodation provider within 24 hours of arriving
2. keep your valuables safe – do not leave your belongings unattended and lock them away if you have the possibility to do so
3. carry a photocopy of your passport with you and leave the original locked away
4. be extra careful in large crowds, keep your cash in a zipped pocket or bag
5. have one of your cash cards and some cash separate from the rest of your valuables just in case
6. do not get involved in any way with drugs as penalties are high in Montenegro
7. follow the instructions of the event organisers and the Montenegrin Police whenever necessary
8. temperatures in Montenegro can be high, so take extra care, especially if swimming under the influence of alcohol.

After it’s over, continue to be vigilant:

1. bear in mind you will be tired, which makes you less cautious
2. don’t fall asleep on the beach if you have your valuables on you. Crime levels are low, but street crime can sometimes occur, particularly in larger towns. Watch out for pickpockets in public places like tourist hot spots, beaches, airports and on public transport
3. local traffic around the festival location will be overcrowded, so give yourself plenty of time to get back to the airport or to get to your bus or train.

If something goes wrong:

1. you can always reach the local emergency services (ambulance, police, fire brigade) by calling 112 from any mobile or landline
2. the embassy is surely available to offer help and support
3. don’t forget that the festival organisers can also support you. Go to one of the information points at the campsite. For more information on the festival itself, visit their website.

Read more about travelling through Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

23 June 2019 - Karisma Hotels Adriatic Montenegro, as part of Karisma Hotels & Resorts, recently presented 96 spacious luxury apartments in the new part of the complex Holiday Village Montenegro to the locals and tourists of Ulcinj.

Apart from the apartments, two new swimming pools were presented to the guests, one for adults and one for children, reports Glasnik by Montenegrin Chamber of Economy.

"The new building is very nicely embedded in the existing ambience, thus additionally contributing to the offer of this unique four-star complex," said the management of the hotel group.

Holiday Village Montenegro is located on the Great Beach (Montenegrin: Velika plaža), which is famous for its beauty, medicinal sand, as well as pines, which cover a large of the complex.

"This position and plenty of content make Holiday Village Montenegro a haven for all visitors, whether they are looking for romance, recreation or relaxation. Our friendly staff will ensure that the service exceeds the expectations of all guests," says the announcement of the hotel group management.

Karisma Hotels Adriatic Montenegro occupies, as they stated, a dominant position in the tourist offer of Ulcinj, which was contributed by the first phase of the complex Holiday Village Montenegro. The offer of the first phase includes two gorgeous hotels: Holiday Village Montenegro and The Long Beach Hotel Montenegro.

“With Ulcinj old town where pirates once roamed just 5 km away, miles of beaches to be explored and terrific sights to take in, our guests will surely have an experience like no other in this magical part of the Adriatic coast,” said the Karisma representatives.

This successful group also manages the Wind Rose Resort located in Bar.

The Wind Rose Resort by Karisma, a 21st century 4-star luxury hotel in Dobra Voda, represents one of Montenegro’s most stunning settings. Its great location allows guests to fully experience everything Montenegro has to offer – from ancient Bar, Lake Skadar, Ada Bojana to cosmopolitan Porto Montenegro and the Croatian Riviera. This family-friendly resort provides the highest standards of comfort and unmatched travel experience at a unique location where a myriad of benevolent winds come together.

"Together with its strategic partner TUI, within the last year, Karisma organized over 140 international flights to the airports in Tivat and Podgorica. Numerous awards, among which are those obtained from TripAdvisor and Trivvy, testify to the success of Karisma's offer, "the management said.

Read more about tourism offer of Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

19 June 2019 - The Tourism Council concluded that the tourist indicators in the first quarter of this year significantly exceeded the data from the record 2018, which, alongside the fact that the activities on the preparation of this year's peak season are implemented or being implemented in accordance with the plan, indicates that 2019 will be a very successful tourist year, reported the Government of Montenegro.

In the first three months of 2019, 166,628 tourists visited Montenegro, which is 38.15% more than in the same period of 2018, while 645,630 tourist nights were registered, 22.4% more than in the same period of the previous year. Tourist traffic data recorded by local tourism organisations show an increase of an average of 15.33% in the first 23 weeks of this year (from January to 14 June inclusive) compared to the same period of 2018.

"These data are even more important if you are aware that in the last year, in which Montenegrin tourism broke all records, the number of tourists increased by 10.24 percent compared to 2017, and the number of overnight stays by 8.17%," stated in the Report on the implementation of the activities envisaged by the Plan for the preparation of the 2019 summer tourist season, which the Council discussed. 

The increase in the number of tourists and the number of nights is followed by the growth of revenues - in 2018, by 8.59% more than in 2017, and in the first quarter of this year, revenues increased by 7.9% compared to the record year 2018 when Montenegro exceeded one billion EUR in tourism revenues for the first. 

Significant increase in the number of tourists in collective accommodation was recorded from the market of Germany (the number of arrivals for the first four months was five times higher than in the same period last year); doubled tourist traffic was recorded from the markets of Austria, the United Kingdom (32.25%), France (an increase of 11.23%) and Poland (an increase of 10.24%). 

The Council noted that such good tourist trends are primarily the result of improving the quality of accommodation capacities and the development of new tourist facilities and offers. About 70 four-star and five-star hotels were opened during the mandate of this Government, while about 30 projects related to product development were supported in last year alone. Air transport accessibility has been improved and a number of activities have been implemented to promote the tourist offer by the National Tourism Organisation and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism. 

Council President Duško Marković emphasised that the impressive growth of tourism as a leading economy, by its scope and financial effects, has again positioned Montenegro as a top tourist destination.

Despite the significant improvements that are evident from year to year, the Council pointed to constraints that exist when it comes to occasional traffic jams, the permeability of borders, execution of construction works during the season, improvement of utility services. It was noted that the constraints need to be addressed through additional coordination of the state authorities responsible for these issues and institutions at the local level. Furthermore, the Council stressed the need for additional engagement when it comes to employing foreigners and defining systemic solutions related to the education and training of lacking staff in the tourism sector. In order to effectively monitor the development of the tourist season and undertake measures to overcome the challenges, especially during the upcoming peak tourist season, the Council established a Coordinating Body for the season monitoring headed by Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović.

Read more news about travel in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

14 June 2019 - Twenty-five organizations and 150 participants from 30+ countries will gather in Budva, Montenegro at the Digital Influencers in Action Forum hosted by Digital Communication Network. At a two-day event, digital marketers, social influencers, analysts, entrepreneurs, journalists, and other professionals will have a chance to look at digital campaigns with social impact in a comprehensive way.

The first day will have 15 talks on various topics such as identifying and engaging influencers, amplifying the reach, influencers reputation and personal branding, monitoring campaigns’ impact and key metrics, fake influencers and negative influence, reaching audiences in a whole new way.

The second day will have interactive workshops, an unconference, a mini-fair of media literacy initiatives and projects, and a mini-hackathon when participants can develop concepts of campaigns involving digital influencers. Workshop topics will address four themes: 1) Building trust between media, governments, and digital influencers; 2) Influencers management; 3) Campaigns for Children and Youth; 4) Influencers in countering disinformation.

The unconference will give the audience an opportunity to briefly present, in connection to two broad topics: 1) Digital Influencers marketing for business; 2) Influencers campaigns for non-profits. At the mini-hackathon participants will be given an hour to come up with a concept of how to build a campaign involving digital influencers on a given topic: 1) Critical thinking 2) Inclusion and participation 3) Social entrepreneurship.

The interested organizations and initiatives will be able to present their campaigns in specially designed booths, increasing the level of interactivity and creative synergies.

In addition to different forms of discussion, Digital Communication Network plans to release its updated “Mapping Digital Influencers 2019” research covering 27 countries of Europe and Asia.

Key speakers include:

• Adam Harrell, NEBO Agency, USA
• Nazli Ozgur, influencer (230K+ followers), Turkey
• Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN, USA
• Kamile Kaselyte, Co-Founder of KIKOINNE, Belgium
• Josh Druding, Director of Social Strategy | Epic Signal, USA
• Suveer Bajaj, Co-founder, FoxyMoron, India
• Bektour Iskender, Kloop, Kyrgyzstan
• Andjela Todorovic, Machine Learning Engineer at Createsi GmbH, Serbia
• Zain Velji, Partner + VP Strategy Northweather, Canada
• Irakli Porchkhidze, Vice President at Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies (GISS), Georgia
• Katarina Klingova, GLOBSEC, Slovakia
• Raluca Radu, Digital Marketing Strategist for #eCommerce, Romania
• Nikolai Taylor, Podcaster on @ChocolatePains, Founder & CEO of Viral Spark, USA
• Žiga Vrtačič, General Manager, Danes je Nov Dan, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Veronica Bielik, Spotlight Agency, Poland
• Iliada Evangelia Kothra, Founder of living-postcards, Business Consultant, Greece

The Forum is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Office of Citizen Exchanges and coordinated by Digital Communication Network, an international association, connecting global influencers and communicators of the digital age and World Learning, a global NGO empowering people and strengthening institutions.

The registration form for the event for local participants can be submitted at the website: https://forms.gle/4N5NCm8eMSwhEmD27

Read more about events in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

13 June 2019 - Bad weather conditions in the pre-season did not affect the number of tourists visiting Bar. Director of Tourist Organization, Mr Emil Kukalj, says that although the number of visitors at one moment was lower than last year, after the weather conditions improved, there was even an increase in the number of tourists.

“We should work on developing a tourist product that will not be affected by weather conditions. By that I mean, development of cultural tourism and tourism based on concrete events," says Mr Kukalj.

Bar, as one of the most attractive tourist destinations, was presented in the neighboring countries and Western Europe. Feedback from the trade fairs visitors is positive. Visitors expressed the greatest interest in Bar during summer. However, a town under Rumija has the potential to change that.

“We tend to point out that this is a town on two coasts and National Park Skadar lake is one the pearls of the offer. We are trying to present Bar as destination suitable throughout the entire year,” says Mr Kukalj and believes that it’s achievable.

With the construction of several high-category hotels, Bar is slowly but surely becoming a destination that can respond to the demands of high-end visitors who are used to luxury. Director of TO stresses that appropriate infrastructure is a must.

“We are very happy to see that the municipality and the state invest in the development of infrastructure, roads, public utility infrastructure… The effect of the campaign “Our Bar- clean town” is very important too. The residents and tourists have to be aware that waste disposal at places designated for such purposes increases the quality of the offer and life of our citizens”, says Mr Kukalj.

Employees in the tourism sector are satisfied with the benefits that Bar has had from cruising in the last couple of years.

“Our partners, Port of Adria, Alegra Montenegro Agency, small local souvenir manufacturers welcoming the tourists from every cruiser play a major role,” points out Mr Kukalj.

This summer residents of Bar and visitors can expect a very diverse range of amenities and programs.

“Under the auspices of “Ljeto pod zvijezdama” we are going to organize shows of musicians from the region and local bands and performers. There will be concerts every Friday at the King Nikola promenade,” says Mr Kukalj.

Something new this summer – the City games – is an event that is going to take place on 28 June.

After the season, TO Bar is going to organize Grapes Festival in Virpazar.

Tourist-information desks are open in Virpazar, Čanj, Sutomore, Šušanj, Stari Bar, Topolica and soon in Utjeha and Ostros.

TO Bar has been working very hard on the promotion of the potentials of hinterland.

“Last month we organized the action “Pohod u planine” (Visit the mountains). It was a 50-kilometer long tour from the sea to the lake shore. It is just one segment of the offer, since Bar has 100 km of very interesting footpaths. They need to be maintained, tourist signalization should be installed… We expect support from the media, agencies, and local and state-level institutions,” says the Director of TO Bar.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro