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Minister Radulović: Montenegro eyes record-breakin...
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Minister Radulović: Montenegro eyes record-breaking tourism season
Published on: Dec 26, 2018 • 10:22 PM Author: PR Service
Podgorica, Montenegro (26 December 2018) -- Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulovic congratulated business people and the Government on the record income from tourism in 2018 of EUR 1.003.315.000. He pointed out that this year Montenegro eyes record-breaking tourism season.
"The historic result is that millions of tourists have spent the night in the Montenegrin hotels. In the first 10 months alone, 4 million overnight stays were made in our hotels. That is about 175,000. overnights over the whole of 2017 and half a million overnight stays more than in 2016," Minister Radulović explained.
He expects that by the end of the year the number of overnight stays in Montenegrin hotels will be higher by more than 700,000 stays than in 2016, which is a growth of approx. 20%.
Addressing the objections made by representatives of the tourism industry at the expense of temporary facilities on the coast, noise and illegal work, Radulović said that these issues do not fall under the remit of his ministry, but the municipal services, and that the Ministry has made enormous efforts to take measures to overcome the grey economy.
"Honestly, we asked the Ulcinj authorities to resolve this issue. Ulcinj loses half a million a week due to the non-payment of the residence tax. But even in such a situation, we have doubled fee payment," he said.
Speaking about the "Homemade Flavours" project, the Tourism Minister pointed out that it is very important to promote food through the tourist offer, saying that negotiations are being conducted with the famous Mishelin, a guide that is considered one of the most appreciated in the world that ranks the quality of restaurants and cuisine.
Minister Radulović said that the VAT rate of 7% for food and drinks in 5-star hotels does not create unfair competition for other hotels, as these catering facilities have incomparably higher costs when building an object and employ a lot more people. Accommodation is taxed at 7% in hotels of all categories.
He pointed out in particular the effects of the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Structures, and that this year's revenues from construction were 35% higher than before it had been passed.
Minister Radulović said he is proud of what he considers a spectacular result achieved by opening Chapter 27, which was enabled through "the hard work and a good network of communication channels".
"It is now time for us to make extensive efforts in order to protect the environment, which is the basic principle of Natura 2000," he stressed.
He also pointed out that the projects from Chapter 27 will be funded partly from the Eco Fund, and the money will be also pouring into the fund thanks to the "Polluter Payer" principle, meaning that business entities that pollute will be obligated to pay for the preservation of the environment.
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