30 January 2019 - The cruising season in Bar, Montenegro will be officially open on February 20 and will last until the second half of October. Judging by the estimated number of cruisers and tourists, cruising season 2019 will be record-breaking.
During the eight months of the cruising season in 2019, 27 cruisers will sail into the Port of Bar, which will, according to announcements, bring over 26.000 tourists to Montenegro.
For the first time ever, the first cruiser that will sail into the Port of Bar, La Belle de l'Adriatique of the French company Croisieurope, will arrive in the winter of February 20. The length of the ship is 111 metres; it can accommodate about 200 passengers and has about 50 crew members.
As the CEO of the Company, Barska plovidba Tihomir Mirković told the Jedro News Agency, during February, March and April, the cruise ships La Belle de l'Adriatique will sail on the Gat 5. "This year, the cooperation between the companies Barska Plovidba from Montenegro and Atlantagent from Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues by sub-contractors, but also on the work related to receiving shipments and boat deployment as well as logistical operations at the Port of Bar," Mirković added. La Belle de l'Adriatique will sail into the Port of Bar twice in February, and four arrivals of this passenger ship were announced during March. In April, La Belle de l'Adriatique will sail to Bar twice, as will the cruiser Artania of the German company Phoenix Reisen, which will sail on the gat of the company Port of Adria.
Coordinator of cruising activities for the Company Port of Adria, Tanja Novović, said that the companies that send their cruisers to Bar are satisfied, primarily because of safety and security in the port, harbour capacities, infrastructure and service. They also enjoy visiting Montenegro as a tourist destination, which offers the possibility of various excursion tours. "We are pleased to contribute and work on expanding opportunities for both tourists and the whole economy with the support of our majority owner, Global Ports Holding," Novović added.
Cruising tourism began to develop in Bar with the arrival of the Turkish company Global Ports Holding and with the efforts of the Allegra Agency from Bar. Last year, from the beginning of June to the second half of November, the enterprise Port of Adria accepted 16 cruisers with over 22.000 tourists coming to Bar.
Last year's cruising season was closed with the departure of the aforementioned passenger ship Artania. It sailed into Bar on November 18 and brought 1.054 tourists and 527 crew members. Agency activities for this passenger ship were done by Boka Adriatic from Kotor.
Although Bar has received fewer cruisers compared to Kotor, last year, on July 27, Bar marked down an important event in the city’s cruising history: there were two cruisers standing side-by side that sailed into the Port of Bar on the gats owned by Port of Adria.
Statistics show that cruising tourism development in Bar registers a steady increase. According to data from AD Port of Adria, in 2016, they accepted seven cruise ships and 8.660 passengers, in 2017, there were nine cruisers, through which about 11.550 passengers arrived in Bar and Montenegro. During 2018, 16 cruisers and around 22.000 tourists visited Bar. The guests had organized and individual excursions to visit Old city of Bar, Skadar Lake, Sveti Stefan, Budva, Kotor and Ulcinj.
Source: Jedro News Agency
