The appearance of Boka bay leaves an
unforgettable impression on everyone who has visited this area at least once.
Unique Freud on the Adriatic Sea combines steep mountain, emerald slopes and
the deep-blue sea, creating a pleasing atmosphere to an eye. On the western
side of the bay Herceg Novi is located, a city rich in cultural heritage and
Mediterranean vegetation presents the perfect place for a holiday during the
whole year
The beginning of tourism in the municipality
of Herceg Novi is linked to the name of Dr.
Antal Mađar who has back in
1902. built the first modern hotel in Zelenika. Hotel, “plaža”, is by no means
lagged behind other tourist resorts in Europe, dr. Mađar along with other
staff, has truly worked hard to provide our guests a pleasant stay. Guests,
mostly coming from Serbia, Austria-Hungary and Germany, had the opportunity to
use a decorated beach hotel, to enjoy multi-day cruises through the Bay, also
for them trips were organized around Montenegro and Shkodra. Hotel printed
tourist brochures where they could find information about the history,
traditions and lifestyle of Herceg Novi and Boka. The war in the Balkans have
not bypassed the hotel, “Plaža”, several times it has been destroyed, but the
family Mađar every time succeded to restore and regain it former glory. Yet the
communist government in 1948. nationalized the hotel and turned it into a
children's resort, thus ending a successful chapter of the Novi tourism.
Herceg Novi has welcomed this year's season
with two serious and functional hotels that are owned by foreigners. These
hotels are doing quite well in large part due to the cheap local labor. The
former backbone of the Novi tourism hotel and catering company Boka no longer
exists, the tribute to the bad privatization was paid. The company Vektra-Jakic
that bought under favorable conditions most of the property of HTP Boka, did
not meet any of the promised, the old hotels aren’t renovated, and there is no
trace of new facilities.The collapse of the hotel deals opened up the
possibility for the growth in apartment tourism or private accommodation.
Guests who arrive in Herceg Novi do not have much of a choice if they want to
stay there, hence opt for private accommodation despite the accommodation fees
are often beyond the limits of good taste. As each year the tourist season is
getting shorter everyone is trying to gain profit in that period. Parking is
charged, parasols and sun loungers are charged, prices in restaurants and
nightclubs do not match the quality of the services offered.
Many believe that tourists should be
satisfied with just being in a Herceg Novi, that they can enjoy the sea and the
Mediterranean ambience. In other words, we offer them sea and sun and in return
expect euros, of course, they do not need anything else. If you find yourself
in mid-July (once the peak season) in the Novi you can easily spot results this
notion of tourism. Half empty beaches, few guests in bars that seem to be
competing who’ll longer sip one drink, an indispensable part of the bleak
picture are dissatisfied locals who moan over a failed season. The question is where did all these
tourists disapear, why don’t they come to our sea that once they perceived as
their own. True, feature of a
successful tourist season is not only in the number of tourists, but also generated
income. In recent years, Herceg Novi is largely bypassed by tourists and said
euri, for a moment we need to stop and think about where we are as a country
and as individuals made a mistake.
Logic dictates that we go where we have been
offered better conditions, where we get more for less money. Guided by that
many citizens of Serbia replaced the Montenegrin coast with Halkidiki, Crete,
Kusadasi, Antalya. While in Montenegro ruled a farytale about elite tourism and
big spenders from the West, tourism officials in Greece and Turkey have treated
all visitors in same way. In this way, they respected one of the golden rules
of tourism, make sure your
guest comes by next year. We
forgot that, we observed the visitors as disposable items from which we should
draw the last cent. Some actions of the political leadership also influenced
the attitude of Serbian tourists to vacation in Montenegro, creating in them a
sense of disappointment and anger.
However limitations of the offer is the
biggest flaw of Herceg Novi, guests are destined to concrete beach, bars and a
few nightclubs. There is a lack of cultural and musical events, contents that
would interrupt the daily routine of he guests which is composed of swimming,
sunbathing, barbecues and a little walk. Why shouldn’t tourists be allowed to
visit the natural beauty endowed Orjen peaks, mountain situated 20 minutes
drive from the city center. How come no beach in Herceg Novi Riviera has no
grounds for volleyball and football on the sand, where did the goals for water
polo in the city from which are many representatives of Montenegro and Serbia
dissaper. Beaches are we covered with plastic chairs and umbrellas that do not
leave room for those who do not want to rent the mentioned requisites.
Domestic guests (today we call them, guests
from the region ") for years neglected the obvious shortcomings of the
tourist offer of Herceg Novi, again returning justifying the fact that their
other summer destinations are unavailable for them. But above all there was the
main argument (of course wiht kinship, friendship ties) that didn’t allowe them
to change the place, the thought of not going to someone elses sea but on “our common". In recent
years, in a combination of circumstances, we lost many of them, and elite guests
from the rich West don’t seem to arrive in greater numbers, perhaps because
they are not willing to so easily forgive us our tourism and hospitality
disadvantages. The condition is improved somewhat by Russian tourists, but they
are not exactly on everyones page. Some find them too loud, the others they
drink and fight too much, and some criticize them for spending a little. We
forget that the town without them, and guests from Serbia and B&H would
look like some deserted-town, it's time to realize that every visitor requers a
decent treatment if you want to be a serious tourist destination.
It is naive to think of prosperity if
we allow our flagship of tourism to continue to be incompetent politicians,
arrogant and semi-literate tenants of beach, street room retailers and greedy
restaurateurs. You need something to change or we will continue to sink faster
and faster, and when we touch the bottom there is no turning back.
Dr Antal Mađar, had a vision more than a
century of how to develop tourism in Herceg Novi, in spite of many difficulties
he has for years successfully implemented his ideas. The visitors were
satisfied with the offered and they returned again, the staff was trained and
properly rewarded for their work. Hotel has successfully operated which allowed
new investments and improving the offer, always raising new goals.
Today we have none of the above, the reason
might be the fact that Dr. Mađar unlike today's tourism workers in every guest saw a man and not an
open wallet.
Photo of Herceg Novi. And a postcard and photo of hotel "Plaža" Photos taken from: Pobjeda.me and Gdenamore.com
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