According to data from the Statistical Office of Montenegro (Monstat), in the first quarter of this year, the number of overnight stays on the coast was 20,000 lower compared to the same period last year. Last year’s total was 207,471 overnight stays, while in the first three months of 2025, it was 187,039.
On a national level, the statistics are slightly more favorable, with a decrease of around 10,500 overnight stays.
An interesting aspect is the increased number of tourist arrivals this year (129,704), compared to the previous year (122,080).
Air accessibility and poor traffic infrastructure are pressing issues for Montenegro, according to Professor Ivo Županović, a full professor of economics and tourism at the Faculty of Business and Tourism, Faculty of Transport, Logistics and Communications, and the University of Mediterranean.
In an interview with the “Dan” portal, Županović also pointed out the high prices that damage the image of Montenegro as an attractive tourist destination due to constant price increases.
Commenting on official data from Monstat, he emphasized the need to differentiate between the effects on collective and private accommodation.
“As for collective accommodation, which also applies to private accommodation, we haven’t seen a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals. However, we are experiencing a decline in both sectors when it comes to the number of overnight stays,” he noted.
The drop in overnight stays in collective accommodation is primarily attributed to a decrease in tourists from Germany, certain Scandinavian countries, and France.
“What I’ve previously warned about is the fact that the European Union is projecting modest growth of 0.8% according to IMF projections. In the German market, no growth is expected, just stagnation. For other key markets, like France and the UK, a slight economic growth of 0.5% to 0.8% is anticipated. If we have roughly the same number of arrivals but fewer overnight stays, it indicates that discretionary income is determining consumption at the destination,” explained Županović.
Speaking about private accommodation, Županović pointed to similar trends: a nearly unchanged number of arrivals but an 11.7% drop in the number of overnight stays.
“The decrease is predominantly driven by a drop in overnight stays from the Russian market and the regional markets, mainly Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. We need to explore the reasons behind these negative trends,” he said.
In parallel with the limited discretionary income linked to slower growth in EU countries and lower consumption than what Montenegro is used to, he listed several internal factors influencing these trends.
“First of all, it’s the inflationary effect, not only in tourism. If we compare just March of this year to last year, inflation in tourism is around 8%, which is significantly higher than the overall average of 2.7% for all sectors. On the other hand, if you look at the inflation rate in EU countries, you’ll see that in accommodation capacities, inflation is at the EU average of 4.5%, while in hotels, it’s 3.8% and in restaurants, it’s 4%, much lower than in Montenegro. This will be another factor I’ve been warning about for the last two years, which might provide short-term benefits to tourism players but will ultimately ruin the image of the destination due to constant price increases,” emphasized Županović.
Development of traditional hotels generates tourism growth and increases employment
Županović believes that Montenegro has a very well-written tourism development strategy with clearly defined clusters and that it should be implemented in practice.
“As for the rest of Montenegro, I think it is unjustifiably neglected. Special attention should be given to areas where we can develop rural and thematic tourism as a supplement to winter tourism, and where we must specifically treat Podgorica as an administrative center that could grow into a significant regional congress center, with certain infrastructure priorities, such as the construction of a congress center and further development of hotel capacities,” said Županović.
He especially pointed out that the development of traditional hotels also generates growth in the number of employees in tourism, as well as the development of tourism itself.
“I think that air accessibility remains an acute problem for Montenegro. The new management of the Airports of Montenegro is making great efforts to expand the roster with connections to key emitting markets,” said Županović.
One huge challenge, according to him, will be the transport of guests from Tivat Airport to hotels in Budva, as the Adriatic highway is currently under construction, making transportation much more difficult and significantly longer than under normal circumstances.
