May 1, 2020 - When it comes to the expectations of the tourist season in Kotor, there is no reason to be optimistic, Ana Nives Radovic, director of the Kotor Tourism Organization told BokaNews.
"Every Sunday we hold a press conference in communication with hoteliers, caterers, travel agencies and come to the information that we pass on to the competent institutions, regarding what are the expectations, what is the number of cancellations and what are the expectations in the sense that we can at least get something out by the end of the year," explains the director of TO Kotor.
Ana Nives Radovic does not have much optimism, even when it comes to the next season, because fear will remain the dominant factor when it comes to tourist trips, even for those who do not have problems with their spending power. Security will be compromised, and fear will remain until there is information on vaccine availability, and many will opt out in the coming period, Radovic said.
"On the one hand, we have a rather worrying perspective, and on the other, the need to revise many things. First of all, we are in contact with a network of tourism professionals who are particularly dedicated to the current situation and perspectives, using time and developing new strategies related to destinations that are overburdened with tourism, such as Kotor," explains Anan Nives Radovic.
Using the best experiences of excursion tourism, we need to make a different strategy. The actual situation shows that mass tourism is not desirable and not required and that we should work on what will at the same time be appropriate for the tourism economy and not disrupt the life in the city," Radovic says.
Expectations are difficult to speak of when we still do not have information on the opening of ports and the announcement of ships, and the establishment of air traffic in Montenegro and the region. "If traffic is to be partially restored soon, we have certain expectations. Most bookings that had to be made by mid-June were canceled. But numerous arrangements for July and August are still in place, which gives some hope if the epidemiological situation remains stable and allows traffic to be gradually re-established.
"Although tourism revenue is key to us, we try to maximize reliance on what is not direct tourism revenue - project revenue, international funds). This year, as well as the next, we will have intensive cooperation with project partners on four large and several smaller projects," explained the director of TO Kotor.
When it comes to promotional activities, Kotor TO will increasingly rely on the digital world to match the situation. "The technological possibilities that exist for this are in favor of us because every day there are more and more IT networks through which we can communicate," Radovic concluded.
Source: Boka News
