21 December 2018 - An international multidisciplinary systematic field research and study of the music and dance tradition and customs of Paštrović, titled Ethno Lab, which took place in Petrovac from December 10th to December 16th, has been completed.

This project is organized for the second year in a row by the Society for Cultural Development "Bauo" from Petrovac. The project was supported by the Municipality of Budva, HG Budva Riviera and the Tourist Organization and the Municipality of Budva, while the assistance was provided by Museums and Galleries of Budva and the families of Marina and Ilija Medin.

Several reference ethnomusicologists, ethnocorists, ethnologists and anthropologists, as well as other experts and researchers in the field of cultural heritage living and working in Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have contributed Ethno Lab project, including Zlata Marjanović (Academy of Arts Banja Luka), Dragica Panić Kašanski (Academy of Arts, Banja Luka), Vesna Karin (Academy of Arts, Novi Sad), Martina Karin (Academy of Arts, Novi Sad), Miloš Rašić (Ethnographic Institute SANU, Belgrade) and many others.

Professional associates on the project were Dušan Medin, archaeologist and master manager in culture, doctoral studies in archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities in the Maritime University in Koper (Republic of Slovenia), also a longtime researcher of the material and non-material cultural heritage of Paštrovići, Milica Stanić Radonjić, Master of Communication (Museums and Galleries of Budva) and Itana Lalović, ethnologist and anthropologist (Museums and Galleries of Budva) and marketing advisor. The coordinator of the project is Mila Medin, executive director of the Society for Cultural Development "Bauo", which assisted in coordination and organization to 5 volunteers.

During this year's project, successful research was conducted, and a lot of valuable material was collected through interviews with twenty families of Paštrović.

As in the past year, it is expected that the results of the research will affirm the rich and representative intangible cultural heritage of Paštrovići, which, despite the current knowledge and results, is still multidisciplinary scientific study and valorization.

On each day of the project more discussions with the local population were organized, while on Saturday, December 15th, at the Memorial House "Red Commune", a lecture was held on which participants presented the project, the current research, and future development prospects in the future.

One of the ideas that was born during the research is the treatment of more recent issues.

"Why wait for someone to come in for 50 years and deal with some topics from the 1970s and 1980s when we now have younger people who I can talk to about that period. These are the topics and research we want, and they should be implemented as soon as possible," concluded Mila Medin, the executive director of the Bauo Cultural Development Society and the coordinator of the Ethno Lab project.

09 December 2018 - An international multidisciplinary systematic field research and study of the music and dance tradition and customs of Paštrović, titled "Ethno Lab", will take place in Petrovac from December 10th to December 16th.

This project is organized for the second year in a row by the Society for Cultural Development "Bauo" from Petrovac.

Ethno Lab was supported by the Municipality of Budva, HG Budvanska rivijera and the Tourist Organization of Budva, while the assistance was provided by Museums and Galleries of Budva.

The Ethno Lab project will include several reference ethnomusicologists, ethnocorists, ethnologists and anthropologists, as well as other experts and researchers in the domain of cultural heritage, who live and work in Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the project, participants will visit several Paštrović's sites and areas in order to get acquainted with the tradition and heritage of this region and interview the local population.

During the past year, it is expected that the results of the research will affirm the rich and representative non-material cultural heritage of Paštrović, which, despite the current knowledge and results, is still a multidisciplinary scientific study and valorization.

Last year's "Ethno Lab" was held from December 6th to 10th, 2017, and during the project, 20 people were interviewed and about 120 GB of audio and video material was recorded.

04 December 2018 - A protocol on cooperation between Tourist Organization Herceg Novi and Tourist Organization Saint Petersburg was officially signed by the TOs directors Pavle Obradović and Nadezhda Petrovna Vitalevna. This protocol is based on tourist promotion, exchange of cultural and artistic groups and societies.

The conference was opened by the Saint Petersburg Regional Commissioner for Culture Konstantin Zuardovich Suchenko, who appointed Svetlana Lavrecova to be an ambassador of cultural and artistic cooperation between Saint Petersburg and Herceg Novi. She is also an artistic director of the Days of Russian Culture in Herceg Novi.

"They appointed the budget for daily allowances and air tickets for artists who will come to Herceg Novi, and we have provided accommodation, trips, and stages for those. If this pilot project turned out to be successful, it is planned to upgrade it to even higher levels of cooperation. We hope that it is because we plan for Herceg Novi to become capital of culture in a region such as Saint Petersburg is in Russia," said Pavle Obradović, director of Tourist Organization Herceg Novi.

At the conference in Saint Petersburg was also the Vice President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi Miloš Konjević, representatives of Herceg Novi's hotels Lazura, Perla, Simo Milošević Institute, Trend Travel Agency, Montenegrin Holiday DMC Agency, as well as the representatives of Tourist Organization Budva and Tourist Organization Kotor, Montenegro Airlines and the Ambassador of Montenegro to Russia, Ramiz Bašić.

"We had an extremely successful conference with 32 tour operators from the Saint Petersburg region and 17 media companies," Obradović pointed out.

He added that the Days of Saint Petersburg and Russia would be held in Herceg Novi in June during the next summer season.

"They are interested in coming here in September, so there is great potential for this cooperation to work, since in that period, when the city is not filled and when there are plenty of free capacities, we can bring many different cultural art societies, theater, and dance groups. We try, by doing this, to attract the Russians and the local population from the region," concluded Pavle Obradović.

04 December 2018 - Montenegro can genuinely be proud of its beautiful 293 km long coast with 73 km of sand, pebble, and rocky beaches spread over 117 locations. Each summer season, beaches attract numerous tourists from all over the world to Montenegro. Having clean and beautifully arranged beaches have been recognized as a necessity by the Montenegrin Government, so The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone of Montenegro decided to make an effort to improve beach appearance and positively affect the tourist offer of the country during the summer.

As announced from the Coastal Zone Management Company, as of next summer season, Montenegrin beaches will have a new, unique look when it comes to beach equipment that will be more appealing to tourists from the country and guests from abroad. Achieving a beautiful looking coast should contribute to an increase in satisfaction with tourists who travel to Montenegro for the summer holidays.

The Local News Station RTV Budva recently interviewed Blažo Rađenović, the director of the Limited Liability Company "Mediteran reklame" (English: "Mediterranean Advertising") on the subject, and he explained that the new decision that will soon be made and the three-year plan proposal would introduce new regulations when it comes to beach advertising. He justified the recent agenda with the unsightly multicolor picture of Montenegrin beaches, where umbrellas, sunbeds, and cabins are used for commercial purposes, and they do not reflect the beauty of the country’s coastal area.

According to Rađenović, The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone of Montenegro will create new coastal area regulations in the following period, so that all beaches have their unique appearance that is focused on attracting tourists, and not creating commercial effects for private companies.

In the past period, before the issue of coastal zone appearance was brought to the surface by the authorities, LLC “Mediteran reklame“ was in charge for controlling the advertising aspect on the Montenegrin beaches, and have charged a fee for advertising in beach zones.

"We tried to act preventively with our taxes and limit the advertising options. In Montenegro, that was the only way to influence and change something for the better. If our company did not exist, everyone would have the right to place hundreds of ads, and that would worsen the image of the country’s coastal area, "Rađenović concluded. He is pleased that the public company has recognized the importance of this issue and that taxing will no longer be the method for creating a more beautiful image for the beaches.

01 December 2018 - The Municipality of Budva, in cooperation with the Tourist Organization Budva, has provided an outdoor gym and exercise space for citizens of Budva, located near the swimming pool on the Slovenian beach.

Assistant Secretary of the Secretariat for Municipal Housing Affairs, Aleksandar Popović, said that the entire training center will be completed by the end of the day.

Popović said that they took care that the devices that were installed for the outdoor gym were of the highest possible quality.

"The appliances are made in America and Denmark, and every part of the device is made of aluminum and a special kind of stainless steel, which is resistant to seawater and does not require special maintenance," said Popović.

He pointed out that special devices for people with disabilities were also provided so that wheelchairs can access and perform certain exercises.

In addition to this gym, the Municipality will make three more outdoor gyms at the following locations: near the "red building", in the village of Beli Do, and on the central part of Bečići beach.

These three venues will be completed within two weeks.

The building of this outdoor gym was discussed during the summer, while the ground works were finished in the August. The total value of the project is estimated at 30.000 EUR. Read more information about outdoor gym in Budva here.

27 November 2018 - Tourist organization Kotor, accompanied by the National Tourism Organization of Montenegro, local tourism organizations and representatives of the tourist industry, participated at the tourism fair "TT Warsaw", which took place from November 22 to 24 in Warsaw, Poland. International Tourism Fair TT Warsaw was held for the 26th time, and it is one of the most important international events of the tourism industry in Poland. In addition to TO Kotor, the local tourist organizations of Ulcinj, Bar, Budva, Cetinje, Tivat, and Podgorica, as well as HG "Budva Riviera", "Montenegro Stars Hotel Group", HTP "Trend Korali" and "Karisma hotels Adriatic Montenegro" also participated.

The first day of the fair, the Montenegrin Stand was visited by Robert Markić, Counselor at the Embassy of Montenegro in Warsaw. At the same time, meetings were held with some of the most important Polish tour operators such as Itaka and Neckerman, as well as interviews with Polish media. During the fair, the organization "Montenegrin Evenings" in Warsaw was held - B2B / media gathering with representatives of the NTO Montenegro, the Montenegrin tourism industry and local tourist organizations. Poland's market for Montenegro is significant considering that according to the number of tourists that visited Montenegro, it is among the most present when it comes to European countries.

In the previous period, there was a steady increase in tourist traffic from this market. Compared to 2010, the number of Polish tourists in Montenegro almost tripled in 2017. Among the Polish tour operators who have represented Montenegro, the most important ones are Itaka, Rainbow tours, TUI, Neckermann, and others.

Also, specialized tour operators from this market have a package of arrangements for Montenegro, which means staying in Montenegro within the framework of the visit to the region. In the upcoming period, an increase in the number of tourists from the Polish market is expected, according to the announced flights and a more extended period of realization.

The national Polish airline LOT will carry out flights between Warsaw-Podgorica-Warsaw during the winter season with four rotations per week.

23 November 2018 - On November 23, Prime Minister Duško Marković hosted the representatives of Qatari Diar, led by Executive Director Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah and during this occasion, officials discussed the exclusive five star hotel complex in Pržno.

Qatari Diar is a real estate company established by the Qatar Investment Authority in 2005 with headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The firm engages in investment and development of real estate including housing schemes, resorts, towers, etc. and it invests in the real estate market of Qatar.

The company is part of the Qatar State Investment Fund and with its three subsidiaries deployed on three continents, currently runs 60 development projects worth over 35 billion USD in 24 countries around the world. Qatari Diar has established itself as one of the world’s most trusted and respected real estate companies because of its commitment to quality, local community, partnership and sustainability.

Since 2010, the owners of Qatari Diar have 270,000 square meters of land in the hinterland of Pržno Bay in Krtoli near Tivat, where they intend to build an exclusive tourist complex worth 270 million EUR. The representatives of the company emphasized their commitment to the realization of this investment, for which the already-proven interest of the hotel chain Four Seasons, as the operator of the future portfolio, already exists.

As Total Montenegro News previously reported, earlier this year, the Ministry for Sustainable Development of Montenegro has issued five construction permits to the Tivat company QD Hotel and Property Investment Montenegro, founded by Qatari Diar, to construct a five-star hotel complex with a gross surface area of 33,5 thousand square meters, nine residential villas with a total surface of 8,3 thousand square meters, underground garages with a gross surface of 4,5 thousand square meters, support buildings, roadways and relevant infrastructure. Set up in Plavi Horizonti, on the Luštica Peninsula, this project will represent one of the most exclusive projects in the whole of Europe, considering the green surroundings on one side and clear blue water on the other side of the plot. Following projects from Seychelles all the way to Cuba and Tajikistan, company Qatari Diar has recognized Montenegrin potential and decided that their next project should be right on the Montenegrin coast of the Adriatic Sea.

During the meeting with Qatari Diar representatives, Prime Minister informed the interlocutors that the development projects worth over 4 billion EUR are currently being implemented in Montenegro, and that one of the Government's strategic policies is further improvement of the investment environment. He pointed out that the door is open to credible investors, from whom the country’s representatives expect not only money, but also transfer of business and management experience to Montenegro. Marković expressed satisfaction with the announcement of the start of this development project and assured that such projects will always enjoy full support from the state.

Read more information about the Qatari Diar project in Montenegro here.

21 November 2018 - During this year, real estate worth about 130 million EUR will be sold in Budva, which is the highest amount in the last five years.

The fact that the real estate market has been revived is confirmed that this year, according to the rebalance, the municipality's cash register sum will increase by three million EUR for the collection of the real estate tax. If it is assumed that this figure is 80% of the total tax collected, the actual collection amounts to about 3,8 million EUR.

A fifth of the remaining tax collected goes to the state treasury. Although initially it was planned that the charge would amount to 2,5 million EUR, the revision led to the increase of this figure by half a million. Budva has retained its leadership position on the coast, when it comes to real estate business, but also construction, judging by the construction sites that “sprout” day by day, according to the local newspapers “Vijesti”.

The revival of the real estate market is certainly influenced by buyers who in recent years often come from Turkey. During 2018, Turkish real estate buyers have become owners of more than a hundred real estates - apartments, commercial buildings, and land. There are almost no residential buildings nor luxury apartment complexes in Budva, where Turkish citizens have not been registered as tenants.

Companies established in Montenegro by Turkish citizens are increasingly appearing as investors in the construction business, as evidenced by the interest of the Turkish businessmen to build a hotel on a plot in front of the Adriatic Fair.

In the period from 2014 to 2017, according to the Ministry of Finance, the Municipality of Budva calculated a total of 9,043,237 EUR in the name of the real estate tax.

According to data, the highest turnover was in 2014, when the real estate tax amounted to 3,566,549 EUR. During the same year, 2,253 real estate sales contracts were concluded. The turnover was somewhat lower in 2015 when the tax was calculated at 2,552,135 EUR, while 2,342 contracts were concluded. A decline in real estate transactions is visible in 2016 when only 1,070,081 EUR were charged for taxes, but 2,399 contracts were concluded. The recovery in real estate transactions is evident in 2017 when 2,221 contracts were concluded and 1,854,472 EUR were collected in the name of the real estate tax.

This data is not precise, since there are contracts from previous years, and also in the calculated amounts there are taxpayers who are exempt from payment.

The collected tax amounts exceed the amounts calculated, keeping in mind that many debtors settled debts from previous years in this period, and so in the period from 2014 to 2017, the Municipality of Budva collected as much as 12 million EUR in the name of the real estate tax.

Read more about Turkish influence on the Budva's real estate market here.

21 November 2018 - The Tourist organization of the municipality of Budva, in cooperation with the National Tourism Organization, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, the tourism industry and strategic partners, has represented the tourism offer of Montenegro on the international exchange of tourism CITM 2018, which was held in Shanghai from November 16 to 18.

Traditionally, the Montenegrin and Serbian tourism offer was promoted under the joint brand "Wild Soul of Europe", which proved to be a good model, given the specificity of the East Asian region and the habits of Chinese tourists to visit as many of the countries that are geographically close during their travels.

Montenegro has noted significant growth in the past years in terms of arrivals and overnight stays from the Chinese market. During 2017, about 24 thousand Chinese tourists visited Montenegro, which is double the number of visits compared to the previous year. There were 34,000 overnight stays, which is also almost double the increase compared to the last year period.

The trend of growth continued this year, given that according to the official statistics of the National Tourism Organization of Montenegro, from the beginning of the year to the end of September this year there is an increase of about 65% in the number of tourists in Montenegrin hotels from China, as well as an increase in the number of overnight stays of around 51% compared to the same period last year.

Visa liberalization has also contributed to good results, and now citizens of the People's Republic of China, who come to Montenegro in an organized manner (via tour operators), can travel without a visa.

In line with the growing interest of tourists from this market, during the fair, Montenegrin representatives spoke with numerous tour operators and agents from China, among whom was one of the leaders in this market - "Ctrip". The meetings discussed the possibilities of attracting a large number of Chinese tourists, visa liberalization for individual travel, connections with tour operators from Montenegro, and other subjects that might interest tour operators and tourists from China. On the second day of the fair, the National Tourism Organization of Montenegro has participated in a B2B event for networking of exhibitors and customers.

CITM is one of the most important tourism markets in Asia, which gathers over 2300 exhibitors from different countries of the world. The fair has visited over 800 specialized international buyers from the field of tourism from more than 100 countries. In addition, the stock market is visited by a large number of media outlets every year. Also, this year's International Tourism Fair CITM has hosted numerous high representatives of countries from all over the world, managers of world-renowned companies, well-known economic analysts as well as entrepreneurs from the People's Republic of China.

At the joint stand of Montenegro and Serbia, the joint tourism offer is promoted by the organizations Fly Montenegro, Budva Tourist Organization, Montenegrin Tourist Service Travel Agency and Travel Europe Vip.

17 November 2018 - The tourist organization of Budva represents the tourist offer of the Budva Riviera and Montenegro at the 22nd Fair of Tourism and Catering, called "Autumn Fair", which is being held from 15-18 November in Banja Luka.

In addition to the Tourism Organization of Budva as the carrier of the Montenegrin offer, the country's tourist offer is also presented by the local tourist organizations of Kotor, Tivat, and Herceg Novi.

The interest of Banja Luka for the tourist offer of Montenegro is traditionally high, while a considerable number of media companies are interested in the tourist offer Montenegro present.

Assistant Director of Tourist Organization of Budva, Vukoslav Rucović, met with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Government of the Republika Srpska Stevo Mirjanić, and on that occasion discussed future cooperation in the field of tourism.

The number of guests from the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina is growing every year along the Budva Riviera, which is confirmed by the statistics. This year, for the January-November period, 37.566 guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina stayed on the Budva Riviera with total of 277.108 overnight stays, while in 2018 as total, this number was increased to 44.435 guests, or 316.076 overnight stays, which represents an increase of 18% compared to the same period of the previous year.

By direct communication with the visitors of the stand, representatives of local tourist organizations had the opportunity to promote both the tourist offer for the next season and the New Year's programmes. Tourist Organization of Budva took the opportunity and invited potential guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina to spend their first days of 2019 in Budva. Under the slogan "See you in Budva! Twentieth time!" with a rich and various programme, Budva will mark 20 years in a series of organized New Year's programmes on the square in front of the Old Town in Budva.

There are about 150 exhibitors at 60 booths at the fair in Banja Luka.