Montenegro looks to become golf destination

Minister for Spatial Planning and Environment Branimir Gvozdenovic announced today that Montenegro has the opportunity to become an attractive golf destination in the near future. This project would, as the Minister said, create new tourism and sporting offers, create new jobs, boost real-estate prices, improve people’s lives, and help Montenegro become better recognised globally as an attractive destination for tourism and investment.
Minister Gvozdenovic said that a team of renowned experts has given a positive opinion on this project and that a strategy has been drawn up by prominent international company Hurdzan/Fry Environmental Golf Design that outlines the necessary steps for the promotion and implementation of the project. This strategy would, after further consultations with the local governments, experts and investors, be presented to the Government in December and would include a Roadmap identifying the key areas of action: identification of best locations for the courts, popularization of golf as a sport in Montenegro, involvement of Montenegrin citizens in the golf industry, building of a sustainability plan, and learning about the good practices of other golf destinations.
The Minister emphasised that the project cannot be carried out immediately, adding that first golf courts could be in place in three years’ time.
The technical advisor in drafting the strategy, Fry Environmental Golf Design partner Michael Hurdzan, said that golf could be very sustainable in Montenegro if the best sites are chosen, good studies done, and golf courts built according to the needs of the market. In his words, Montenegro is a place where golf would fit very naturally, with its scenic beauty, people’s love for the outdoors, and good climate, and that golf can be made attractive to both the local population and to tourists in Montenegro.
Minister Gvozdenovic concluded by emphasising that the key aim of the project is the development of sport, tourism, and investment, local population inclusion and lucrative and environmentally friendly business that would create a new brand for Montenegro and benefit the country as a whole.