Ulcinj is the southernmost Montenegrin city on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, which is rich in natural resources, but their valorization is not at a satisfactory level. The city, where Miguel de Cervantes spent a part of his life, after the change of government, still leads a much more successful fight against “windmills”.
The announcement of the arrival of the Hilton hotel chain and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for investment in the tourist complex of Cape Mavrijan between the Al Shiddi Group from Saudi Arabia and representatives of the Government of Montenegro and the Municipality of Ulcinj were the most positive news from the extreme south of Montenegro during August.
The potential and tradition of tourism in Ulcinj are unquestionable, but the limited capacities of the infrastructure hinder the stronger development of tourism. However, the announcement of the opening of the Hilton Hotel brings a fundamental and strategic change to Ulcinj when it comes to the development of tourism.
Transformation from mass to elite tourism
– Hotel Jadran is the only hotel destroyed in the 1979 earthquake, and the others were “demolished” by privatization. It is the best location in Ulcinj and one of the best on the Montenegrin coast. It is unfortunate that this potential has been unused for the last 30-40 years – believes the President of the Municipality of Ulcinj, Omer Bajraktari, who has held this position for a little over a year.
– After the change of government, we decided to solve this problem because it is the most attractive part of our coast. We found an investor from Kosovo, who is completing the Hilton in Pristina. The news about the arrival of a prestigious global hotel corporation resonated positively in Montenegro and the region, which increases the value of tourism in Ulcinj. I am sure that after that, the construction of similar projects will begin in other locations, because the next decade is the decade of Ulcinj’s development – he adds.
When he came to head the municipality, Bajraktari, as he claims, found 10,000 euros in his account, and at the end of the year his administration accumulated 2.5 million euros.
The only city without a marina
Ulcinj is the only Montenegrin coastal town that does not have its own marina, and only this year the office of the border service for receiving tourists by boat was opened. Previously, the procedure had to be completed at Bar.
– It is necessary that we work more on nautical tourism because Ulcinj is the only municipality on the Montenegrin coast that does not have its own marina. It’s a big challenge. Regardless, Ulcinj has enormous resources, among which the 13-kilometer-long Velika Plaža and Ada Bojana stand out, with room for 100,000 to 150,000 bathers. The latest trend is the arrival of guests from Podgorica, Budva, Bar and other cities on a daily or weekend basis – explains Bajraktari.
Ulcinj is a traditional destination for halal tourists from the region, but the unregulated halal certification system is a big challenge.
– We have a large number of tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from Kosovo. Until now, tourists from Arab countries are a rarity in Ulcinj because we lack adequate facilities for their needs.
Positive changes after 2020
The first man of Ulcinj comes from the political option led by Prime Minister Dritan Abazović. Although the perception of a large part of the public in the region is that the 2020 elections brought negative changes in Montenegro, at the local level in Ulcinj the situation has improved in many respects.
– We feel positive vibrations from 2020, because Ulcinj may not have been discriminated nationally, but it was economically. Cooperation with the government has become easier compared to the previous situation. I was the manager of the municipality between 2014 and 2016, and then cooperation was painful and we spent a lot of time and energy on benign things. Regardless of who forms the new government, the situation will not be the same as when DPS ruled, but it will not be as favorable for us as it is now – believes Bajraktari.
Although the vast majority of the citizens of Ulcinj voted for the independence of Montenegro, statistics show that the standard has dropped, which is why a large number of the working population has moved out, which limits the development of tourism.
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