Less than two months after detecting its first COVID-19 infection, Montenegro is the first nation in Europe to declare itself free of the coronavirus, a success story the tiny nation hopes would lure tourists to its Adriatic coast this summer.
For weeks hotel staff have been raking empty beaches as the pandemic kept away visitors who would normally be arriving by plane, cruise ship and road this time of year, but finally there is a sliver of hope after Montenegro announced it no longer has any active cases of COVID-19.
Tourism operators have already seized the opportunity to brand Montenegro as “Europe’s First COVID-19 Free Country” in videos promoting its stunning natural beauty, with beaches snaking along the south and rugged mountains in the north.
Photo: AFP
In picturesque Kotor, a medieval walled city nestled in a mountain-ringed bay, locals have been spared the coronavirus entirely, with no known cases reported.
While tour agencies are still expecting a tough season, there is hope this sterling health record would soften the blow on an industry that accounts for more than one-fifth of GDP and 19 percent of the workforce.
“Safety is something people are looking at the most,” said Ana Nives Radovic, a director of the local tourism organization in Kotor. “They now are looking for a destination where people feel safe, respect some rules and where they can be assured that [the host] will not allow anything bad to happen to them.”
Montenegro’s size has certainly been of aid in its fight against the pandemic: It is one of the smallest nations in the world, with only about 630,000 people.
Over the past 10 weeks it has recorded 324 infections and nine deaths from COVID-19.
Since May 5, there have been no new domestic cases.
“Let me take off my mask,” Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said triumphantly on Monday after health authorities announced that all active cases had been cleared.
The nation’s borders are to open early next month, officially beginning the holiday season, but arrivals are likely to fall far below the 2.6 million recorded last year, with forecasts of up to a 70 percent drop in tourism turnover.
To prevent any backsliding on the health front, Montenegro is to only allow visitors from nations that have kept COVID-19 cases at under 25 patients per 100,000 people.
That means travelers from top markets, such as the UK and Russia, are unlikely to make it this summer, a blow to luxury destinations such as Porto Montenegro.
While tourists from the region made up a third of visitors last year, this summer they are expected to be the core clientele.
“It will look very different this summer than it would have looked last year,” said Kai Dieckmann, general manager of Regent Porto Montenegro hotel, whose pools, lawns and beach have stood eerily empty for weeks.
Dieckmann said that new hygiene measures would also be in place, such as “QR menus” at restaurants that allow patrons to read the menu on smartphones instead of touching a physical copy.
We will “have to provide additional services to meet the ‘new normal,’ whatever that is going to be,” he added.
Up the coast, tourism powerhouse Croatia is also hoping to capitalize on its relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases to salvage this year’s holiday season.
The Adriatic nation of 4.2 million has capped deaths at 101 and cases at 2,244.
With southern European competitors such as Spain and Italy struck off many travel lists because of their battles with the pandemic, Croatia is in a position to pick up some of the share.
“The number of people who will travel will be reduced, but so will be the number of destinations where Europeans visit compared with a ‘normal’ year,” said Krunoslav Kapetanovic, a hotelier from Opatija, a northern coastal resort.
Others hope social distancing options, such as boating holidays, camping, private accommodation and road travel, would be a draw to travelers from nearby central European markets.
About 150,000 foreigners, mainly neighboring Slovenians who own apartments on the coast, have already descended on Croatia since it relaxed its restrictions earlier this month.
Any visitors at all would be welcome in a nation where officials predict a 70 percent drop in tourism revenue.
The walled city of Dubrovnik, a coastal resort made even more famous by its use as a location for the TV series Game of Thrones, is expected to suffer especially hard with curbs on plane and cruise travel.
Residents say the town’s cobbled streets have not been so empty since the 1990s war when its buildings were badly damaged.
All but one reservation for Nikolina Lovric’s two-bedroom apartment have been canceled.
“We have no expectations. If anything happens it will be a gift,” the 34-year-old said.
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