Today, on Pier 2 terminal of the company Bar Cruise Port, the ship "Thomson Spirit" with 1,216 passengers was accepted as the last cruiser in 2017 season. On the occasion of the cruising season closing, a work meeting was held in BCP main office. It was attended by Bar Cruise Port representatives as well as by Ms. Željka Radak Kukavičić - Director of the National Tourism Organization, Zoran Srzentić – the President of the Municipality of Bar, Ms. Snežana Karanikić - Tourism Organization Bar, Mr. Mihailo Vukić - the owner of the Allegra Montenegro agency and Mrs. Olja Fatić- representative of local exhibitors.
At the meeting, activities undertaken till now were presented with the aim of promoting Bar as a cruising destination, impressions of cruise visitors on the basis of conducted surveys, and further development plans of Bar Cruise Port and its majority owner, Global Ports Holding in this area. Significant attention was given to the consideration of the identified problems and challenges that all participants in the chain of acceptance of cruisers meet. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to animate all participants in the chain of acceptance of cruisers and promote the interest in creating an attractive local offer (from transportation services, tourist guides, to authentic domestic products - souvenirs and food). Accordingly, an operational team will be set up to prepare and monitor the cruise season, with the aim of further improving the attractiveness of Bar and creating a local offer to increase the consumption of visitors from cruisers. After the conclusion of the work meeting, the participants visited the exhibitors of "Caravan of domestic and organic produce", who presented their offer on Kings Nikola's promenade.
"I am pleased that today we were guests of the company Bar Cruise Port, which is organizing the acceptance of cruise ships in Bar, to hear details about their current activities and plans for the following period. We are especially satisfied with the results achieved: only this year, 11,000 tourists has visite Bar , and for the next year, it is expected that this number will be doubled” emphasized Mrs.Radak Kukavicic.
“We are very pleased that we successfully completed the second cruising season in Bar. All ships have been served at the level of international standards, passengers have been safe and securely accepted. In order to improve the tourist offer, we have continued our work and established cooperation with new institutions that can contribute to the development and better presentation of the tourist offer of our city and Montenegro in general. Today, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and "Try our Home Made" Cluster, we have organized "Caravan of domestic and organic products" where exhibitors from different towns of Montenegro are presented: Herceg Novi, Ulcinj, Podgorica, Mojkovac, etc. With its active role and creative initiatives, the Company strives to stimulate additionally the interest of different participants in investing in concrete development projects, all in the function of creating a complete tourism chain. "- said Tanja Novovic, cruise acitivties coordinator.
"I only have compliments for the organizers. Such and similar events contribute to promotion beyond the season of local food and beverage producers, handicraftsmen and for those who try to create family business with their own work. In order to support local businesses, we support our cluster "Try Home-made" which brought together a significant number of producers from Montenegro. Such and similar events are an ideal opportunity to present to foreign tourists and to the local population, and show what our producers offer, which rarely or not at all can be found on the stalls of large supermarkets " said Velimir Djokovic, manager of Cluster “Try Home made”.
According to the previously made reservations, in 2018, Bar shall be called by 16 ships and three different cruising companies, which will bring about 25,500 passengers. About 3,500 cruisers arrive in the Adriatic region annually, bringing almost 5 million visitors, and three largest ports are currently Venice, Dubrovnik and Kotor, visited by 60%.
