Lodges and Summer Pastures of Mountain Durmitor -  Bright Jewel for a Sustainable Future

American and Montenegrin Tourism Postgraduates, Students and Teachers about the Enhancing of Tourism Offering in the Montenegro’s Durmitor National Park Region

 

One of the most exciting ecotourism destinations in the world, why not..?

The National Park Durmitor is marked in the Montenegrin Tourism Development Strategy as huge potential for development of different forms of tourism. The fact that this area has claims to international significance obliges to careful making decisions on planning and utilization, which is the result of the Government’s determination to develop tourism on the principles of sustainability, said Mr. Nenezić, Minister of Tourism in Montenegrin Government, at the presentation of results of Consulting Practicum.

Mr. Garret Tankosić Kelly, Head of UNDP Office in Montenegro: “Sustainable tourism is the only kind of tourism that addresses two Millennium Development Goals  at the same time and their realization in this country  substantially relies on the potentials of the National Park Durmitor. The Report on the Progress Towards the Achievement of the MDGs witnesses that Montenegro has already committed to double the amount of protected area from 7.2% in 1990 to 15.0% in 2015. Also, beside contributing to poverty reduction through providing business opportunities and employment for local population, nature-based tourism in the North will be a great tool for Montenegro to put itself back on the tourism map in a different manner, to reposition itself in the tourism market and to diversify tourism product.” Mr. Tankosić Kelly also said that by creating regional/transnational links between Destination Durmitor, Skadar Lake and Sea Coast, in addition to being extraordinary scenic destination to visit and enjoy, Montenegro has an opportunity to become one of the most exciting ecotourism destinations in the world, if tourism development properly planned and managed.
 
Montenegro can be proud because this project proved that we have young tourism and hotel management leaders who got involved so successfully in the work of one of most prestigeous programs of The World Tourist Organization and The George Washington University. This initiative showed that Durmitor Area has all the potentials to gain their deserved place on European travel planning maps, said Ms. Andriela Vitić from Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management in Kotor and Ms. Sanja Vlahović from The Faculty of Tourism, Hotel Management and Commerce Bar.

Visit to Local Authorities

During field assessment activities the Consulting Team visited Mayors of Šavnik, Žabljak and Plužine, who underlined a wide divergence between the abundance of nature and its underutilization. They said one of main problems was demographic cataclysm caused by people leaving for cities. All the three Durmitor Area Municipalities covering approximately one quarter of Montenegrin territory are inhabited merely by 10.000 people. They think that the important element of the development of tourism in Durmitor Area would be to finish the construction of the road Risan-Nikšić-Žabljak, which would shorten the trip between the coast and the mountains to two hours of comfortable drive.

Eco Tourists, Agro Tourists, Adventurers…  Where are they coming from? How much they spend?

The Consulting Practicum researches on the structure of potential tourists showed that ecotourists, adventure tourists, SAVE tourists, rural/agri tourists and cultural tourists mainly from Scandinavia, Germany, France, Spain, etc. would be interested in visiting the Durmitor area. 

The tourism branch as a part of local economic development has a bright future in Montenegro: researches say it ranks 142 out of 174 countries for worldwide tourism demand and 10.2% of annual growth makes Montenegro’s tourism market the fastest growing in the world. And the development of the Durmitor National Park region
is a critical element..

More in the presentation… EcoDestinationDurmitor-June23-2006.pps (6 MB)

Photo gallery: Consulting Practicum at work