New Deal Europe Weekly Update on Tourism to the Balkan Region, Week 40
News from the destinations: Montenegro
This week we talk to Hayley Wright, Director of adventure company Black Mountain Montenegro, about tourism to this fantastic country. We explore some of the great activity tourism offers of Montenegro and its key role in sustainable economic growth, and also get her views on the impact of cruise ships and of Covid-19 on tourism. Of course we couldn’t resist asking her what it is like to be a Brit living and working in the Balkans.
NDE: Please tell us about your personal history with Montenegro, and how you started with your agency?
HW: I have a history in the Western Balkans, going back to 1995 when I worked for a commodities company whose market focus was the former Yugoslavia. I started travelling to the region in 1997 and visited Montenegro for the first time in 2000 — at that time it was very quiet and peaceful. Tourism was limited mainly to regional visitors but it was easy to see the huge potential for outdoor activities and adventure travel. The tourism infrastructure was rather decayed, left over from the days of beach holidays in Yugoslavia. Adventure travel was really nowhere on the radar, with the exception of some local mountaineering clubs, one or two agencies who organised mountain tourism, and some rafting on the Tara River. My husband and I are adventure travellers, and we were looking for somewhere to create amazing experiences for like-minded people. Montenegro was the ideal destination but lack of flight connections and poor infrastructure were an obstacle despite the incredible hospitality, great food, culture, history and landscapes. Montenegro is a country of mountains, rivers, canyons, lakes, forest, stunning coastline and a climate and topography which ranges from Mediterranean to Alpine in the space of just a few kilometres. In fact there are mountains of more than 1,000 metres even right on the coastline. We moved here and set up business in 2006. We have been here ever since and been part of the country’s new growth in adventure travel.
NDE: Can you tell us more about how you operate, how you promote your products and what are your main markets?
HW: We are an inbound DMC and work mainly B2B. Promotion has mainly been through word of mouth, networking and as members of ATTA (The Adventure Travel Trade Association) which has enabled some great connections. Our main markets prior to the pandemic were the UK, Northern Europe, USA, Canada and other English speaking markets such as Australia and South Africa. Thanks to increased flight connections with the Middle East we are now starting to work with some new markets.
NDE: What would you say is your signature programme or product?
HW: Signature programme — this is hard to define as we mostly work on tailor made itineraries or specific programs which we run for each international partner, but we do have a collaboration with our Bosnian partners for a great hiking trip on the Via Dinarica, Bosnia through to Montenegro section, and another on the Montenegro to Albania section. Most of our trips include Tara rafting, hiking in the Piva mountains, Durmitor National Park and also Orjen mountain on the coastal Dinaric alps in the Bay of Kotor, an incredible but unknown mountain. We focus on taking clients to areas which few others visit or which they would maybe not discover alone.
NDE: It sounds like a great offering. Now that we understand more about you and your operations, let’s move on to the Covic-19, pandemic, testing, and so on. Montenegro had a quite high-flying start last year, declaring itself as a Covid-free zone. Unfortunately it did not last long and was hit really badly in the 2nd wave. What is the situation now and how is the vaccine roll out progressing?
HW: Currently the number of active virus cases is at a low level following a Spring lockdown. Vaccines are being rolled out. Montenegro is a member of the Covax program so that does dictate how much supply is received and when. There is a plan to prioritise the offer of vaccines to tourism industry workers when the next vaccine shipment arrives which should be at the start of May.
NDE: It’s interesting to hear that tourism workers might be prioritised for the vaccine? Did you get any other support from the government and has the Covid pandemic left any ‘scars’ on the country and on the tourism industry?
HW: It’s left a pretty big scar. Tourism in 2020 was around 10% to 13% of what it was in 2019, so this was a huge drop. Many families and local people rely solely on tourism for their income and Montenegro relies on tourism and new tourism investment projects as its biggest source of revenue. The government has supported tourism and other hospitality sector workers with a furlough scheme. However, this was based on minimum wage, which is very low in Montenegro, so in reality people have had to survive on very little. Many guides work on a self-employed or seasonal contract basis and, as the pandemic started before the summer tourist season in 2020, this meant they were left with no support. The government has also tried to support the tour operators and tourist agencies with a one-off grant payment. We have seen many people leave to try to find jobs elsewhere, although that in itself has been hard since so many other countries are in the same situation.
NDE: You are very dedicated to the promotion and execution of responsible and sustainable tourism, which is one of New Deal Europe’s main pillars too. Tell us how easy or how difficult this is to practice in the real world, on the ground in Montenegro? How strong is the awareness of the importance of sustainability in the travel sector there?
HW: Some of the development in Montenegro has been positive in terms of improved infrastructure and economic growth which created more jobs and enabled higher earnings for local people. Many young people left Montenegro for education and jobs in the past (and some still do), but recently we started to see a lot of Montenegrins returning and bringing investment and business experience back to their home country, which is hugely positive. There are definitely better career opportunities for younger people in Montenegro now, so more incentive for them to stay in the country. On the downside, overbuilding and unregulated building in a frantic attempt to attract mass tourism in some areas, especially from around 2006 onwards, has had a negative impact. Awareness is growing about the need for sustainable practices and policies to be implemented and about the long term benefits this brings for communities. The Municipality of Tivat is now working towards Green Destination status and this is providing an invaluable model for other areas to follow. There are also numerous excellent examples of small businesses, hotels and operators who are implementing sustainable policies and many rural areas and villages have been regenerated by adventure and cultural tourism.
The global adventure tourism industry demands that destinations implement and adhere to sustainable practices so pressure and also support from international operators is helping many businesses on the ground to change and improve their protocols. This is a very positive thing.
Awareness is growing about the need for sustainable practices and policies to be implemented and about the long term benefits this brings for communities.
NDE: This is really interesting. In what ways have you personally influenced change in operational practices to make tourism in Montenegro more sustainable?
HW: We brought the Leave No Trace organisation to Montenegro and organised training for local guides and National Park staff who are in turn now able to educate others, and there are many other sustainable initiatives being implemented. It is still a struggle to convince some operators that there is more long term value for the community in offering small group or individual high value immersive experiences than filling a bus with 50 people for a coastal day trip, but the tide is turning and we have so many sustainable success stories to learn from, the closest being Slovenia.
NDE: We like to say that the Balkans is a leader in activity based sustainable tourism products. This is also your main area of operation. Do you think this sector has sufficient recognition in your country and in the region in general?
HW: There is no doubt we have some incredible activity based tourism products here in the region, which are of huge economic benefit and protect and preserve local culture and heritage. I see the sector as becoming increasingly recognised by the governments of the region, who again, as mentioned earlier, have always counted ‘visitor overnights’ as the main tourism value indicator and not placed any value on other indicators. This is changing now with more awareness at government and regional levels about the importance of a long term sustainability plan and I believe that collectively the Balkans realises the value which its landscapes, heritage and culture offer as a high quality tourism destination. This needs to be matched with low or preferably zero impact policies and regenerative travel.
There is no doubt we have some incredible activity based tourism products here in the region, which are of huge economic benefit and protect and preserve local culture and heritage.
NDE: You mentioned the impact of mass tourism earlier. What is your evaluation of the growing sector of cruising and its impact on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro and how do you view its future in the region?
HW: The number of cruise ship visits has exploded in the past decade. When we first moved here in 2005 the largest boats in the Bay of Kotor would be a six metre yacht. Then the cruise ships started to arrive around ten years ago, and prior to the pandemic there were sometimes two or three large cruise ships per day in summer. The largest ones cannot even dock — they stay in the middle of the Bay with engines running. Visitors are taken ashore by smaller boats. From the perspective of local guides, drivers and vehicle operators it has been a huge payday and Kotor has been able to improve its infrastructure. However, as we know well, a very small amount of money actually stays in port when the ships depart. 2020 without cruise ships has certainly enabled local people to look at the whole perspective and we hear that in future they will limit the number of cruise ships coming and shorten the length of their stay so that there is more capacity for overnight visitors with higher spending power.
NDE: Montenegro is a beautiful yet tiny country. Do you also offer tourism in the other parts of the Balkan region? Do you see it as one tourism region and product, or do you prefer to sell unique places and micro regions in Montenegro only?
HW: We believe that our fantastic local guide team knows their country the best, so our clients are guided by them. We operate a lot of cross-border itineraries and in these cases we work with really great partners in the other Western Balkan countries whose guides have the best to offer in those places, so we switch over the guides when crossing borders. I see it as one region offering an incredible array of products, with so much diversity and so, whilst we focus on Montenegro, we have a lot of experience with our neighbouring countries and work together with our partners to offer experiences there too, if the client asks for them. In terms of sustainability we like to focus on micro regions, to reduce traveling and travel time. However, we also know that long haul clients usually want to see more than one country. So different markets have different expectations. We have several options where we limit vehicle use as much as possible and are able to arrange permits legally for crossing borders on foot or by bike through the mountains on the old trading paths.
NDE: It’s great that you are offering these sustainable transport options, or ‘soft mobility’ options as the EU refers to it, which is definitely seeing growing demand. This leads nicely on to how you see the growth of tourism in the Balkans region? What do you think the region should be concentrating on in the coming years and is it a destination that can become more popular in the future?
HW: I believe that out of the difficulties of the pandemic, the Balkans’ time to shine will be now. The infrastructure and landscapes away from the coast offer so much in terms of wild nature exploration, getting back to basics, getting away from it all, enjoying the good things in life — good food, fresh air, lots of space, a huge range of active and culture experiences — or simply doing nothing at all except sitting on a mountain side watching the sunset. This destination offers a chance to unhook from the digital pressures of life today and engage with incredibly hospitable people who are proud to welcome you to their communities to relax and unwind. Balkan lifestyle is relaxed by tradition, although people here also know how to work very hard. But they are able to separate the two things, which I think many people in the West cannot do any more.
NDE: You were one of our suppliers at the recent New Deal Europe Marketplace and Forum. This was your first time at New Deal Europe, and thank you for your support. I’m curious to know what your first experience was like?
HW: The experience was hugely positive, unexpectedly so in fact. Both my husband and I have attended quite a few online travel marketplaces and we were really delighted with the calibre of relevant buyers, so ready to talk business even in these challenging times. Even where we could not find a business match it was energising just to talk to people and see how they are getting on and managing with the crisis. The platform for the meetings was the easiest and most user friendly I have ever come across and the pre-planning , choosing the wish list etc, was excellent. This is very important for someone like me who struggles with the huge number of new communication platforms these days! The support call organised the week or two before was also very useful and relevant. I would like to say congratulations to all who worked so hard to make this a really worthwhile and relevant event.
NDE: That’s great to hear. I’m so glad that you bought in to our philosophy about the event, that it is not just about doing business, but also about learning and sharing experiences. That’s really important to us in terms of growing tourism to the region, and thank you for those words. We need to round off our chat, but I can’t let you go without asking what is it like to be a Brit in the Balkans? What are the biggest cultural differences you come across, and, if you don’t mind, can you tell us, how you and your family have adapted to life in the Balkans?
HW: We have always felt very welcome here and value being part of the community. We have made some incredible lifelong friends. The cultural differences are similar to what I described earlier with the pace being more relaxed while as Brits we have a tendency to rush everywhere! I do notice that after so many years here I am much more in tune with this lifestyle than the one I encounter when I go back to the UK. My husband Jack and I both love the outdoors so we are incredibly privileged to live in a place where we can enjoy the mountains and the sea on the same day.
NDE: Your kids must be fluent in the Montenegrin language too. Are they more British or are they more Balkan?
HW: Our children have spent their whole lives here. They attend local school and are completely fluent in the language. Speaking the local language is a key part of being part of the community despite the fact that many people here speak English and speak it incredibly well — and many other languages too! Our son is the oldest and interestingly has a very British personality, sense of humour and his English is better than his Montenegrin (although still fluent in both). On the flip side our daughter speaks slightly better in the local language than in English and is, by character, very Montenegrin — or so our friends tell us.
We are incredibly privileged to live in a place where we can enjoy the mountains and the sea on the same day.
NDE: Thank you Hayley for this great insight into your Balkan life.
HW: Thank you for letting us put the spotlight on Montenegro!
New Deal Europe is the only travel market platform dedicated to generating business to Balkan region of Europe, www.newdealeurope.com. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newdealeurope.
