Podgorica could draw visitors for two or three days rather than a few hours or one night if it better combines and promotes its tourism offer, Valdet Gjinaj, manager of the Bristol hotel in Montenegro’s capital, said. He sees scope for the city to expand beyond its traditional role as a business and transit centre by giving tourists clearer reasons to stay longer.
The average visit remains relatively short and most often lasts a few nights. Podgorica has natural attractions, wine, gastronomy and cultural heritage that could support longer stays, but those elements need to be brought together and presented as a more coherent offer, Gjinaj’s assessment indicates.
“Podgorica should no longer be a place people pass through, but a destination where they stay,” Gjinaj said. The challenge, in his view, is to turn the city’s potential into a specific tourism product that gives visitors a reason to spend more time there, rather than relying on the presence of attractions alone.
Tourism businesses urged to coordinate
That offer would require closer cooperation among hotels, tourism organisations, travel agencies, restaurants, wineries and local producers. Gjinaj also pointed to the need to connect visitor attractions with promotion, infrastructure and events. “We need synergy among attractions, promotion, infrastructure and events,” he said.
At Bristol, staff recommend restaurants, wine tours, cultural and historical sites, natural attractions and excursions to guests who want to explore Podgorica and its surroundings. The range of suggestions reflects the mix of experiences available to visitors, while the broader goal is to make those options easier to discover as part of a stay in the capital.
“When we connect hotels, agencies, restaurants, wineries, local producers and tourism organisations, we can offer guests an authentic destination experience,” Gjinaj said. His proposed approach links accommodation with local services and producers, rather than treating the hotel stay and visits to the surrounding area as separate parts of a trip.
The city also has a potential market in congress and business tourism, given its status as Montenegro’s capital and a business centre. Further development of conference infrastructure and quality promotion could help hotels maintain more stable occupancy throughout the year, according to Gjinaj’s assessment.
Bristol reports stable demand
Gjinaj described the tourism season so far in Podgorica as very positive for Bristol, which has recorded good occupancy and continuity in overnight stays. Demand at the hotel is stable, while the number of organised groups arriving from international markets is growing.
The largest share of Bristol’s guests comes from Israel, and the hotel also receives visitors from China and numerous European countries. The increasingly diverse mix suggests to Gjinaj that the capital is attracting interest from different markets, not only from business travellers and people passing through.
Bristol has 32 rooms and will continue investing to improve the quality of its facilities and services. Gjinaj identifies the hotel’s ability to offer a more individual and higher-quality approach as an advantage, alongside its role as a base for discovering Podgorica and Montenegro.
The hotel wants to position itself both as a place to stay and as a starting point for exploring the capital and the wider country. The city’s ability to extend visits will depend on developing and promoting its offer, while conference infrastructure is another area identified as a potential contributor to steadier hotel occupancy across the year.
