08 April 2019 - According to the official announcement by the Public Works Directorate, National Park Biogradska gora will launch a new segment of the tourist offer for this site, tourist land trains, by April 20.

"The delivery of all necessary equipment for the completion of tourist land trains, which will be used to transport visitors from Kraljevo kolo to Biogradsko jezero, started last Friday in the Biogradska gora National Park, and will be completed in the next ten days. After all the trains have been assembled and examined, we will organise an official test drive, after which the land trains will be officially delivered to the user company," said the announcement from the Public Works Directorate.

The tourist land trains, according to the report, consist of a locomotive, two trailers for the transport of passengers with 20 seats and one trailer with 16 seats for persons with disabilities.

"The total value of the vehicles, according to the contract of the Public Works Directorate with the best bidder, Montenegrin Telekom, amounts to 549.757 EUR, with the delivery date by April 20," the statement said.

The largest share of the investment, about 419.000 EUR was provided by the Government of Montenegro from the capital budget.

"The rest of 130.800 EUR is financed by Montenegrin Chamber of Economy, based on the grant agreement with the National Parks of Montenegro, within the project" Development of low-carbon tourism in Montenegro ", where the UNDP is an implementing partner," the statement said.

The Public Works Directorate conducted the tender procedure for procurement of two tourist land trains.

08 April 2019 - During the first week of April, the Agency for the Development and Protection of Orjen has launched a promotional hiking tour within the Nature Park Orjen. The hiking tour, named Treasure from the Heart of Orjen, follows a route from the Vrbanj Adventure Park to the foot of the Subrin Amphitheatre, i.e. the Snow Cave and includes the incredible presentation of cocktails Zmajevo ždrijelo (English: Dragon’s Throat) and Gorski Sladoled (English: Mountain Ice Cream) created with the snow which piles up in the pit all year round.

The special guest of the first promotional tour was a blogger from Australia, Mikki, who resides in Herceg Novi, who otherwise runs the blog Snooze And Explore, and she described this fantastic experience in a post titled Discovering the Distinctive Beauty of Orjen Mountain.

In addition to the launched promotional hiking tour from the Vrbanj Adventure Park to the foot of Subrin Amphitheatre, the Orjen Agency for Development and Protection is planning to launch another hiking tour within the Orjen Nature Park, which will be organised on the Orjen saddle and symbolically carry the name "Carev put" (The Road of Tzar). The tour was named after the road that was built by the Imperial Austro-Hungarian Army. In addition to an enjoyable lazing around and sunbathing at Orjen pool, the Road of Tzar journey will include a tour of the abandoned Austro-Hungarian construction site and presentations of cocktails and ice cream named "Orjen" and "Prinčev sladoled" (English: Prince’s Ice Cream), which will be made in the cave of Sniježnica.

The representatives of the Agency for Development and Protection of Orjen emphasize that the scheduled bus line Herceg Novi - Vrbanj started operating from the first weekend in April for all the locals from Herceg Novi as well as for guests staying in the city. The line will be operated on Saturdays and Sundays with departure from the main bus station at 09:15 am and 03:30 pm, while the return from Vrbanj is scheduled for 10:00 am and 04:15 pm. The Agency invites all interested individuals to visit the Adventure Park and spend a day or weekend in the Nature Park Orjen.

07 April 2019 - Nikki Beach Hotels and Resorts will grow its portfolio to now include a total of 7 resorts, including new launches in Montenegro, Santorini and Sri Lanka.  Nikki Beach has its hotel division but also operates in partnership with Nikki Beach Hotels and Resorts EMEA on three properties in Dubai, Bodrum, and Porto Heli as well as the new Santorini property.

Under the Nikki Beach Global portfolio and situated on a private peninsula in the bay of Budva, Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Montenegro will be part of a luxury private villa development. The property overlooks a marina and the historical old town of Budva, which was founded by the Romans. As the hottest resort and party destination in Montenegro, Budva attracts sophisticated travelers and the ultra-luxury yachting community. The property will house 150 rooms and suites, 20 ultra-luxury villas, three individual private beaches, a jetty, five restaurants, Nikki Spa and Tone Gym. The brand’s beach club concept, Nikki Beach, will also be integrated into the resort. Budva is a beloved year-round destination known for its crystal waters, breathtaking mountains and amazing food and wine.

“In its 20th year of operation, Nikki Beach continues to evolve as markets change,” says Lucia Penrod, CEO of Nikki Beach Global. “A year ago, we shifted our focus on reorganizing our Hotel Division and the result after one year is three new projects under construction and a deeper pipeline than we have ever had before. Our first beach resort was opened in 2010 in Koh Samui, Thailand, and after nine years, our hotel brand is ready for takeoff.”

“Our current pipeline and its imminent growth is a clear indication that the market is truly craving our experiential lifestyle concept,” says Alexander Schneider, newly appointed President of the Global Nikki Beach Hotel Division. “Hotel owners and investors are looking for sustainable partnerships that are capable of introducing meaningful and wholesome brands, which provide the true potential of making a difference in a currently opaque hospitality environment. The brand standards of a hotel management company need to translate into a tangible experience for the guest, which creates excitement, loyalty, and measurable returns.”

Nikki Beach is also celebrating 20 years in business. The beach club brand, with 14 locations around the world started in 1998 as a quiet garden by the sea located in Miami Beach. It was called Café Nikki to honor the life of Nicole Penrod, Jack Penrod’s daughter who was killed in a car accident when she was only 18. To commemorate its 20 years, Nikki Beach will be hosting a private black-tie event at its annual pop-up during the Cannes International Film Festival in May as a way to give back to the brand’s loyal supporters and to mark the occasion at one of its favorite destinations.

Source: Forbes

02 April 2019 - Low-cost airline company Ryanair, based in Dublin, has launched scheduled flights from Bologna to Podgorica Airport starting April 1, 2019.

In February 2019, low-cost carrier Ryanair started looking into further expanding its operations in Montenegro. The airline's Route Development Manager, Gary Butler, met with the General Manager of Airports of Montenegro, Danilo Orlandić, to discuss growth potential. The budget airline has now introduced its sixth destination to Podgorica this summer season, with flights from Bologna launched on April 1.

As officially announced from Ryanair representatives, the company launched two weekly flights from Bologna to Podgorica, which will be maintained Monday and Friday with Boing 737-800 aircraft, which has a capacity of 189 seats.

Ryanair faces no direct competition on the route, with Alitalia and Montenegro Airlines maintaining services between Rome and Podgorica, while Wizz Air operates flights from Milan Malpensa to the Montenegrin capital.

Bologna will thus become the fifth Italian city which is directly connected with Montenegrin cities via Airports of Montenegro, and the route Bologna – Podgorica represents the sixth line to Montenegro held by Ryanair.

Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, the airline said it expects to handle 175.000 passengers on its operations to and from the Montenegrin capital. "We look forward to carrying more than 175.000 annual customers through Podgorica airport this year. Ryanair offers six routes in total operating from Podgorica Airport. Customers can fly twice weekly from Podgorica to Stockholm Skavsta, Brussels Charleroi, London Stansted, Berlin Schonefeld, Bologna and Wroclaw".

The carrier launched services to the Montenegrin capital in the summer of 2013 following two years of negotiations with the government. On Thursday it handled its 500.000th passenger in Montenegro since it commenced operations to Podgorica. It has expanded its network from the city each year ever since. The company previously noted its Podgorica flights "continue to perform strongly."

01 April 2019 - The winter tourist season 2018/2019 at Montenegrin ski resorts ends this weekend, which Director of the Ski Resorts of Montenegro Miloš Popović assessed as successful, somewhat better than last year's. 

"The winter season began in mid-December, and it ends today. There are six ski resorts in Montenegro: Kolašin, Savin Kuk, Javorovača, Vučje, Štuoc, and Hajla. In the Ski Center Kolašin 1600, which was opened later because of the installation of the cable car, 4.00 ski passes were sold during 45 days of the season, while 13,000 ski passes were sold in Durmitor during 109 days of the season. The season, from the aspect of the amount of snow on the trails, was very successful, one of the best in the last six years, a couple of percent better than the previous one that was the most successful in the last few years," the Director of the Ski Resort of Montenegro emphasised. 

Popović announced additional works during the summer and new contents in the following winter tourist season in Kolašin and other centers. 

"This is just the beginning of the development of this ski center. This is evidenced by the fact that a tender procedure has already been launched for the new six-seater cable car, which will connect the ski centers Kolašin 1600 and Kolašin 1450. Furthermore, we will prepare about 9 km of ski trails alongside. In addition to the existing cable car, another 6 km of ski trails will be prepared, and when everything is linked, in the next year, we will have 45 km of ski trails," Popović said. 

The Director of the Ski Resort of Montenegro said that a contract has already been signed for the construction of a new cable car at Bjelasica – ski resort Žarski. The value of the contract is EUR 9 million. The contract for the construction of a base station in Mojkovac worth EUR 1.5 million has been already concluded.

"A contract was signed for the construction of a six-seater cable car worth 9 million EUR with 3.5 km of ski trails at the ski resort Cmiljača in Bijelo Polje. In the coming period, we will invite a tender for the base station at that location worth 1.8 million EUR," Popović stressed. He added that the tender procedure for the six-seater cable car at the ski centre Štedim and Hajla in Rožaje has been launched. "We will also invite a tender for the construction of a base station worth 1.5 million EUR. The contract for the construction of a six-seater cable car in Žabljak worth 9 million EUR with 4.5 km of ski trails was concluded. In Žabljak, we will prepare an additional 1.8 km of ski trails. We will soon launch tender procedure for the first phase of snowmaking worth 1.3 million EUR,"- the Director of the Ski Resort of Montenegro noted, adding that at least 7 million EUR will be invested in each ski center. 

Director of the Public Works Directorate Rešad Nuhodžić said that the Government of Montenegro allocates 100 million EUR through the capital budget for the projects that have been implemented, the ongoing projects or the planned ones.

March 31, 2019 - The adventure park on Vrbanj, after the winter break, will again be open for visitors from 1 April, and the entrance will be free until 1 May. According to Milja Vitorović, director of the Orjen Protection and Development Agency, who is managing the Adventure Park, they are undergoing the preparations.

29 March 2019 - According to the conclusions of the assembly held by Railway Transport Service representatives, the launch of a special train schedule once a week only for tourists from Bar to Kolašin could significantly improve the tourist offer of Montenegro,

The assembly, which took place in Podgorica on March 28, was attended by the Director of Railway Transport Service Nenad Babić, Commercial Head of Railway Transport Service Mirko Rmandić and representatives of tourist agencies in Podgorica, Bar, Nikšić and Bijelo Polje.

According to the report published by Pobjeda daily, during the assembly, the participants noted that it is of great importance for the Railway Transport Service representatives to engage in active cooperation with the tourist agencies of the cities above.

"This type of offer would allow us to organise a slow train route so that the passengers could see all the interesting areas in between the two cities. They could have time to photograph certain tourist attractions and landscapes which could enhance their whole travel experience," said Babić, adding that the Railway Transport Service Company is mostly satisfied with its cooperation with the tourist agency Adria within which the two companies have already organised group tourist train routes from Bar to Kolašin.

According to him, the number of tourists last year was three times higher than in 2017, with an income of 37,000 EUR.

"This year we will focus on local transport because we expect problems in international transport within the territory of Serbia. On the route from Belgrade to Subotica, the railroad is currently being reconstructed, so most likely, the train from Subotica will not be transporting passengers to Montenegro. We need to substitute this lost revenue by increasing revenue related to local transport," Babić explained.

Rmandić said that by the end of April, the Railroad Company would introduce a computerized system, in which they invested 100,000 EUR. This system should enable passengers to buy or reserve tickets for 24 hours by a mobile application. They will also have to install a particular channel through which Montenegrin Railroad will be networked with the European Ticket Selling Organization, so tourists will be able to buy and book tickets if they want to travel from Vienna to Brussels. Staff training for this system starts on April 8.

Representatives of the tourist organizations promised to help with the railroad-related projects and pointed out that the stations in Crmnica and Virpazar should be reconstructed, that the information desk in Virpazar should be opened, and the train schedule should be set up at all stations in the English language. They suggested that the station "Aerodrom" in Podgorica should connect with the Airport in Golubovci and thus affect the increase of air and railroad traffic.

27 March 2019 - About 1,100 vertical signs with tourist information will be installed along the roads throughout Montenegro, all by the contract signed by the Public Works Directorate and Podgorica-based company "Crnagoraput".

Montenegro's scenic roads take all the travellers on a journey through the varied landscape, culture and nature of this small, lovable country. On the four different routes between the beautiful Adriatic coast and the wild and romantic mountains of the north, there is a lot to discover. Connecting routes also make it possible to take shortcuts or connect several scenic roads. No matter if you are travelling by car, motorbike or camper - the gorgeous landscapes will leave you breathless.

The recently signed contract on development of scenic routes throughout Montenegro includes the installation of new tourist signs along the scenic routes "Crown of Montenegro" and "Sea and Heights," as well as along the routes linking them.

The panoramic road "The Crown of Montenegro," is the longest route which covers the entire hinterland north of Podgorica. It leads to the spectacular mountains of the country and the most impressive gorges of the Balkans. By following this route, travellers can discover the nature of Biogradska Gora, Prokletije and Durmitor National Parks and Piva Nature Park and explore the cultural treasures in the heart of Montenegro. This panoramic road is undoubtedly the most intense way to get to know the country for those who are full of curiosity and adventure and have more time to spare for their journey.

The Panoramic Road “Sea and Heights” takes the travellers along the impressive Montenegrin coastline to explore the picturesque old towns on the Adriatic coast, beautiful beaches and the spectacular Bay of Kotor. By taking this route, travellers can also enjoy the view from the peaks of the coastal mountains and the national parks Skadar Lake and Lovćen.

The realisation of the signposting investment, worth 156.731,70 EUR, will enable the high-quality provision of tourist information to visitors, as one of the segments of the improvement of Montenegro's tourist offer.

The signs will have a unique shape and colour and will contain clear instructions on tourist locations.