08 May 2019 - Extending the tourist season in the countries of the region is one of the leading priorities and challenges in the area, it was pointed out at the fourth Forum of EUSAIR which is taking place in Budva.

Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Pavle Radulović, took part in the first day of the Forum, on the panel with the thematic subject – sustainable tourism.

All participants of the panel have agreed that many aspects play important roles in the reduction of seasonality – improving the hotel offer, better accessibility of the destination and improving the quality of the product.

One of the priorities is the diversification of the offer certainly. The development of the offer based on the comparative advantages of our destination that will satisfy different demands of tourists should be in focus.

Risks that specific regions are faced with – primarily due to the great tourist pressure – have been pointed out. In that context, it is necessary to establish a more efficient model of destination management. They also spoke about the results achieved in tourism, plans for the forthcoming period and cooperation in the region.

Žarko Radulović, president of the Montenegrin Tourism Association recently said that this year’s tourist season had started better than expected and Montenegro can already expect that revenues from tourism would reach 1,1 million EUR. According to him, this will be a record-breaking year for tourism in Montenegro. He also pointed out that tourism could manage to generate even more revenues, but some things must be arranged before that.

04 May 2019 - This year’s season has started better than expected and Montenegro can already expect that revenues from tourism would reach 1,1 million EUR, as estimated by co-owner of the Montenegro Stars Hotel Group and president of the Montenegrin Tourism Association, Žarko Radulović.

According to him, this will be a record-breaking year for tourism in Montenegro. He also pointed out that tourism could manage to generate even more revenues, but some things must be arranged prior to that.

“I mean primarily on fiscal discipline and then on the unfair competition. In addition, coastal towns must be fashioned after the high-end tourism destinations,” said Radulović.

As for the expectations from the summer tourist season, he says that everything will go better than they have been expecting.

Tourists are coming even earlier than last year. According to him, that is a sign that Montenegro has entered the Western Europe market.

“This means that companies and other associations which were traditionally going to other destinations now spotted Montenegro and arrivals are going to increase in the forthcoming period,” Radulović noted, emphasizing that this means that the next winter season will be even better.

The number of new flights is continuously increasing and that is what brings tourists.

“The number of announced flights is almost the same as last year. There is a somewhat lower number of those from Russia which we certainly expected but still, we are still satisfied,” concluded Radulović.

May 5, 2019 - The NGO Hands from Herceg Novi invites you to the fourth Primavera Feast, which is scheduled for next weekend, May 11th and 12th. The event includes outdoor activities, handicraft exhibitions and tastings delicacies of wild herbs, as well as educational programs. In cooperation with the Agency for Protection and Development of Orjen and the City Café, which hosts the festival, Hands are organizing a festival devoted to spring, interesting for all generations. 

03 May 2019 - At the end of September 2019, Herceg Novi could host a birthday celebration of the largest carnival family in the world, FECC - Dies Natalis 2019, if the Montenegrin presentation wins over Italy and Macedonia, which also submitted their presentations.

The final decision will be made after the presentation, which will be held at the end of June at the convention of the Federation of European Carnival Cities - FECC, in the Turkish city of Yalova.

The president of the NGO Maškare, Ivan Peulić recently spoke with the members of the International Board of FECC, Budva Municipality President, Marko Bato Carević and representatives of the Tourist Organization of Budva on the topic of following 17th International Travel Carnival Festival.

"Support has certainly come from representatives of the FECC of Montenegro. At the convention in Turkey, we will present Herceg Novi and Montenegro as possible destinations of this event. An official meeting was held today at Hotel Alexander with FECC president Lars Algel. The meeting was also attended by FECC President Montenegro Branko Đurica, Vice President of the International Board of FECC Josip Silov, as well as members of the board Aleksandar Cicimov and Aleksandar Vasović," said Peulić for Radio Jadran.

He is convinced that Herceg Novi could be the host of this event, because there is a great chance for this to happen.

"A good "basis" for this is our jubilee Feast of Mimosa, after which there are plenty of positive impressions, and we must try to design a better programme for this weekend and present Herceg Novi as a desirable destination. The birthday of FECC every year moves to another country. As far as I know now, we have a better impression compared to Italy and Macedonia, and I hope that 25 nations will support the convention." pointed out Peulić.

The Herceg Novi Municipality already accepted the proposal and unofficially supported the candidacy in March during the Mimosa Feast, while the support was provided by the Directorate of the 50th Feast of Mimosa, the President of the Municipality, Stevan Katić and Vice President Miloš Konjević.

"Maškare" are also participating in the 17th International Travel Carnival and 18th Spring Night under Masks.

"The carnival officially began last night, the programme on the streets of Budva, the restaurant and cafes that were full of food. Abrum was led by Carnival Director Marija Pjerotić and a delegation from the International Board of FECC. The carnival atmosphere already staggered last night with numerous masks that continued the party in the old town's streets. "Satiri" is one of 72 carnival groups from Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro," concluded Peulić.

At 7.30 PM a large carnival rally from the main Post Office to the Square of the Painter is planned, and at 11.30 PM "The Carnival Show" is scheduled. Programme leaders and hosts will be members of The Books of Books.

03 May 2019 - The entrance to the Adventure Park Vrbanj, in the hinterland of Herceg Novi, is still free, although the payment was due to begin on April 1st. The reason for this is because city councilors in Herceg Novi have not yet given their consent to the suggested price list, which should be done as a follow-up to the assembly session on May 8th.

Prices in the adventure park will, as previously announced, be 5 EUR for children, 10 EUR for adults, while people of Herceg Novi will be able to achieve a 50% discount with an ID card.

The Agency for Development and Protection of Orjen is working intensively on improving infrastructure and introducing new content. By the end of April, two toilets should be delivered, as well as a 30 m2 log cabin, which will be used as the storage for the equipment, bicycles and office space.

"We are forced to carry the equipment with us every day, which is not practical. It is expensive equipment, which must be present in the Adventure Park all the time. We also have a guard who resides in a small kiosk, which is in poor condition, but we leave some things there at a daily level. Next to the hut, we will try to set up two toilets by the end of April," the director of the Agency, Milja Vitorović said.

By the beginning of the main tourist season, part of the main road to the park should be expanded in some places so that large buses can bring visitors uninterruptedly. So far, two buses of Blueline are driving to the park, which departs from the main bus station on Saturday and Sunday at 9.15 AM and 3.30 PM, while they are returning at 10 AM and 4.15 PM. On regular days the regular traffic lines are being followed.

Vitorović believes that by the Adventure Week, which was announced for May 31, June 1 and 2, everything should be completed, in order to welcome first the Adriatic canyoning project partners, as well as the main season.

For the end of May, larger organized groups of visitors from Dubrovnik were announced. For the time being, the park is visited mainly by domestics, people of Herceg Novi, but also people from Trebinje and Dubrovnik, with fewer guests from Russia and Germany. Since the beginning of April, 305 adrenaline adventures have been used, mostly by children.

Four instructors are currently engaged in the park. The training process for two more instructors is underway, who should be employed during the season.

Milica Boca from Herceg Novi, with her brother Dragisa and sister Bojana, organized a cleaning action at nine locations in Herceg Novi and its surroundings this winter. 

With friends and anyone interested in making the city cleaner, they collected waste in Ratisevina, cleaned Mojdeš road, the beach and park under Tito's villa, the viewpoint on Podi, the road to Zvinjama and more.

It all began in February when Milica saw dumped plastic bags around the local road Suscepan - Ratisevina where she walked on her way to work. The three of them organized and purchased bags, gloves, dressed accordingly and started the action.

"We were surprised by the amount of garbage. Because of the overgrown vegetation we could not see the extent of the waste that had formed along the way for years. Most of it consisted of baby diapers, but also plastic furniture, car parts, tires, refrigerators," says Milica.

They were joined by other fellow citizens later on.

"One guy came by bike from Zelenika to clean the area around Suscepan," says Milica.

In a few days, they acquired a waste truck that the Workers of Cleaning Service drove to the dump.

"When this area was cleaned, somehow it forced us to clean up some of the other sites in our municipality, places where the workers from the Cleaning service “do not reach”. In addition to our friends, the following actions were attended by people of different ages and various professions, including the students of the Faculty of Management, senior members of the Dance Club “Diano”. We all share the same opinion that civic activism can contribute to better living conditions," says Milica, and points out that they are apolitical and do not want to be put on any "side".

They are not even discouraged that in some places they have cleaned, disrespectful citizens throw away garbage again.

"I do not think penalties would solve the problem of waste disposal. Raising ecological awareness, fostering civic activism and education, especially in schools and among young people, are a better way," says Milica.

She thinks that there is a general lack of civic initiatives and non-political actions.

An eternal lover of nature, optimist, Milica will soon organize the jubilee tenth action. During the summer she will take a break, and in the autumn she will again get engaged in cleaning the environment.

She is also convinced that with the actions, a circle of positive energy is being spread, and she is ready to "clean all of Montenegro".

Milica graduated at the Faculty of Management and works in the family firm “Sky Clock” as an assistant in the administration. She has a wide circle of interests, and the love for nature and the need to contribute to its preservation she inherited from her parents.

"I watched my mother always ready to clean the space around the house and take part in similar actions," points out Milica.

Text by Slavica Kosic, on May 2nd 2019, read more at Vijesti

02 May 2019 - During its last session, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Information on the implementation of the project "Water Supply and Wastewater Disposal on the Adriatic Coast - Boka Kotorska Bay" and accepted the Financing and Project Agreement.

When presenting the Information, it was stated that the Municipality of Kotor, in cooperation with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, KfW Bank and Vodacom, nominated this project for donor funds under the third call for project applications from the Western Balkans Investment Framework. The Western Balkans Investment Framework Steering Committee positively assessed the project and it was decided that the construction of the sewerage network in Risan and Perast will be financed with the amount of 4.58 million EUR, which will solve the priority issue of wastewater collection in these coastal areas, which represents the first phase of the entire project.

On the same occasion, the Government of Montenegro also approved the Proposal of the Decision Amending the State Study of the "Sector 36" location. It is an area that is in direct contact with the areas of a series of planning documents, which together form the tourist complex Luštica Development.

Bearing in mind the fact that the intensive realisation of activities in the Marina area of ​​the Luštica Bay project, which includes, among other things, the construction of the Chedi Hotel, the main marina, as well as the residential facilities within Phase I, requires a well balanced and realistic plan of all infrastructural and communal facilities services needed for the adequate functioning of future capacities, there was a need for additional planning of some of the infrastructure and service facilities in that zone.

Through amendments provides for valorisation of the area with respect to the guidelines deriving from the legislation and all documents related to the protection of nature and cultural heritage.

The Government of Montenegro also passed the Draft Amendments to the State Study of the Location "Arsenal" Tivat. The main goal of the amendments is to correct the essential elements of the functionality of the space indicated in the previous plan. In that sense, it was aimed at correcting the zoning of the tourist purpose and its positioning in an adequate location, increasing the free and public surfaces, linking the pedestrian surfaces and forming a few squares as the adequate spaces of the Mediterranean urbology.

01 May 2019 - An exhibition of paintings titled "The Eyes of the Sea" by academic artist Milo Albijanić from Tivat will be opened in the SPA Gallery of the Institute Dr. Simo Milošević on May 3rd.

As noted by the academic artist Vesna Supšić, Mile Albijanić uses the fish as a symbol and inspiration. The drawing is always side-by-side, but with details that do not illustrate the real life of water beings but are the product of an internal dialogue instead.

"This is the conversation that leads to the dramatic evolution of collages, as well as the reality in which they are created, but also the colored game of suggestion of motion, water and environment. In addition, the fisheye is also present, omniscient, significant and indispensable, just like God's," Supšić said.

Mile Albijanić was born on October 19, 1963, in Bileća, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he finished elementary school and gymnasium. He graduated in 1990 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić, at the pedagogical department, as a teacher of fine arts. He worked for many years as an instructor and in workshops with disabled people, as well as a guide and souvenir designer.

There is an enviable number of collective and independent exhibitions behind his name, and he also enjoys photography. He is the organizer of the artistic event "Nacrtajmo se u eNKa", and he is also a founder member of the Art Group group "Tri Art" and a full member of ULUBIH (Bosnia and Herzegovina Association of Visual Artists). Since 2013, he has the status of a freelance artist.

The audience at the Spa Gallery in Herceg Novi will be greeted with about 40 works of medium format, made with oil on canvas and paper. The exhibition will be opened by journalist Vitka Vujnović.

29 April 2019 - The contest of rock bands, which was supposed to be opened on April 29, named the Carnival Nights of May in Budva, was postponed to Tuesday due to poor weather.

According to the Tourist Organization of Budva, seven bands will compete for prestigious awards: "Refugee Jesus & Apostles", "Jack Lupino & The Leftovers" and "The Grupa" from Budva, bands "Esid radio" and "Winged" from Podgorica, "Štrajk Mozga" from Nikšić, and the band "Eastock" from Užice.

The three-member jury, composed of Živorad Žika Jelić, YU group frontman, Miodrag Džemo Radonjić, bass player of the former cult Montenegrin group "Makadam" and Vladimir Bulatović, the vice-president of the Municipality of Budva will select the three best bands. For the third-ranked band, a cash prize of 300 EUR is prepared, while the second prize is 500 EUR, and the winner takes 1.000 EUR.

According to the jury, the two best rock band at Carnival Nights will perform on the main stage as a pre-band "YU group" whose concert should begin at 10 PM.

The rock night will be opened by a biker rally that will start at 6 PM in front of the "Beer & Bike" club in Budva. The rally will go to Petrovac and then return to the main town square.

On Wednesday, May 1st, at noon, the concert will be held by the City Music of Budva. At 7 PM the folk dance groups from the region and Turkey will take place, while the singing choir "Grbalj" will perform at the main stage simultaneously. Folklore ensembles will perform at the main stage, and ethno-night will round up the concert of the group "Sanja Ilić and Balkanika" in the most beautiful way, which is scheduled for 10 PM.

Zumba and salsa night will be the job for Jelena Rozga and her band which is scheduled for Thursday (May 2nd), Abrum and The Band group concert for Friday (May 3rd), a large carnival rally for Saturday (May 4th) and a children's Carnival for Sunday (May 5th).

From May 2nd to 5th, DJs and local groups in the Old City, the Palais Square and the Square between the churches are planned.

During the event, the parking of vehicles on the access roads to the Old Town and the square is forbidden, while the traffic will be completely prohibited on the trip: Tre Canne - Mediterranean - The old bus station on Saturday, May 4th from 5 PM and 30 minutes, until the passage of the carnival rally, the Tourist Organization of Budva announced.

29 April 2019 - The upcoming summer in Herceg Novi may not be ready for lack of parking slots, but it will no longer happen that tourists, who struggled to find a parking slot, have to wander around to buy a ticket or pay for a parking, as noted by the representatives of Parking Service of Montenegro.

In the next few days, the Parking Service Company will deliver four parking payment machines for the purchase of parking tickets at places where there is no kiosk. The procurement contract, worth 30,000 EUR, was signed with Telekom, while the Parking Service is financing the devices.

In this way, for the first time in Herceg Novi, the system of purchasing parking tickets will be introduced, which is one of the segments of the so-called Smart parking, which is already in use in Podgorica. Except for parks, "smart parking" also includes telephone applications, installation of sensors under the asphalt, through which data on the number of free parking spaces are sent, and more.

As explained by the Parking Service, the parking machines will be placed at 4 locations: at Tonsati, across the Kanli Towers, between City Cafe and Atlas Bank and in Igalo, at TC Solemar.

They should first make it easier for foreign tourists to buy tickets, as it is in several foreign languages. It is important to note that the parking machines will receive both paper and coins, with the possibility of returning the change. In addition, the parking payment machines will come equipped with solar panels.

Through the parking lot, you can buy tickets for the so-called yellow zone (Dubrava, Tonsati) and red zone (city center and Igalo), or for about 200 parking slots.

For this season, there will be about 1,000 parking spaces in public and general parking lots under the "parking" of the Parking Service, and during the summer, there will be no price increases. This means that the parking slot in the yellow zone will cost 0,50 EUR and in the red 0,80 EUR. Subscription day ticket in the yellow zone costs 5 EUR.