04 May 2019 - Tourists who want to bring their pets to their holiday in Montenegro are finally getting a chance to bring their pets to the sandy beaches! According to the latest announcement, the first pet-friendly swimming areas on the Montenegrin coast will be arranged within the summer 2019 season!
The Strategy for Sustainable Beach Management, developed by the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro, will bring a number of nudist beaches, family swimming resorts, public city swimming areas, and for the first time in Montenegro - pet-friendly swimming areas!
Three pet-friendly swimming areas will be opened in the Municipality of Budva, according to Ivana Lazović from the Coastal Zone Management Enterprise.
As Lazović pointed out during an interview for Radio Slobodna Evropa, there will be a fully functional pet-friendly swimming area within the Slovenska beach, which will have all the necessary infrastructure. “Another pet-friendly beach resort is planned on the Buljarica beach, but we are still waiting for a tenant. The third pet-friendly beach in Budva will be in front of the Hotel Avala," Lazović highlighted.
As announced by the Coastal Zone Management Enterprise, each pet-friendly swimming area (beach) will have to have prominently displayed behavioural rules for owners and their dogs, cleaning equipment, showers, food and water containers, and toys for the pets.
For many tourists around the world, going on summer or winter holidays means taking their pet on a journey as well. Aleksandar Zeković, who often travels with his dog outside of Montenegrin borders concluded that, when it comes to pets, Montenegrin tourism, but also society as a whole, falls behind compared to the rest of the world.
During an interview for Radio Slobodna Evropa, Zeković said: "When you want to book an accommodation in a different country, the first thing I check is whether the hotel is pet-friendly. Luckily, a significant number of hotels abroad is open to pets, which allows me to organize my trip in a quality way. In Montenegro, on the other hand, I can rarely find accommodation, private or hotel, in which I can spend time with my pet. We’re just not there yet as a society.”
According to the data from the website "Tourism Review", in Germany, France, Italy and Austria, more than 40% of hotels accept pets. In major European cities like Berlin, over 50 percent of the total accommodation capacity is pet-friendly.
The data also shows that Germany tops the list of top 10 countries in the world where hotels accept pets. The second and third places are also European countries - Italy and Austria, while among the 10 are also the Netherlands, Russia and Greece.
