The Restorative Power of Nature

crnogorski

Author: Jan-Peter Olters, World Bank Representative in Montenegro

Published in Monitor, Vol. 19, No. 903 (February 8, 2008),

“Dražesna moć prirode”, pp. 32–33.

The wild beauty—untamed, untouched and, at the same time, mysterious and attractive. This awakes interest. The distinctive “Montenegro Wild Beauty” logo is thus not only an intelligent marketing ploy for foreigners but also a promise to residents, assuring them of the government’s commitment to protecting Montenegro’s natural resources and environmental treasures as crucial ingredients of its tourism development policies. First indications are that this strategy—linking environmental protection to economic development—has proven very successful.

Official statistics are clear. Montenegro has been one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the world. Tourism revenues have increased by a staggering 39 percent in 2007, to an estimated €480 million, equivalent to more than one-fifth of total economic activities. Almost 1.2 million visitors spent their holidays in Montenegro, reflecting an increase by 21 percent. Tourists have tended to stay longer, as visitor-nights grew by an even faster 23 percent, to 7.3 million in 2007—resulting in an occupancy rate of 33 percent in 2007. Among international investors, the immense potential has not remained unnoticed, with preliminary estimates projecting foreign-direct investments of close to €1 billion, much of it in the tourism sector. Roughly half the capital inflows were purchases of real estate along the coast.

The record tourist season of 2007, however, generated an optimism that could be disappointed easily, especially if the gap between the tourism image described in the travel brochures and the actual tourism experience made in Montenegro grows. Tourist destinations, if they do not hold what they promise, fall out of fashion quickly. Among all the good news, there were some signals that raised concerns, including infrastructure bottlenecks. Water and electricity shortages were especially pronounced during the peak season. But that was not all: one foreign tour operator has recently announced to take Montenegro out of its 2008 catalogue—reportedly for reasons of excessive hotel prices as well as frequent tourist complaints about overcrowded beaches, incessant nocturnal nightclub noise, and pollution.

The tourist season in 2008 will be more difficult. In 2007, Montenegro was “cool”. There was the newness of the country, the echo from the big bang of James Bond’s high-stake gamble and the even Bigger Bang that the Rolling Stones unleashed on the beach of Jaz. 2008 is different. It will be a test of whether last year’s tourists come back or enticed their friends and family to follow suit. Right now, while many families ponder their vacation plans, the Balkan region looks fragile again, with the fallout from the Kosovo status question still in doubt. Tourists tend not to be risk-takers, and a deceleration in the growth rates of tourism demand, or even a trend reversal, cannot be ruled out. What does that mean for the challenges in developing Montenegro’s tourism sector? Focus on what sells “Montenegro” to visitors, with areas of attentiveness being as clear as their implementation is difficult.

Environmental protection is a key ingredient of Montenegro’s development potential. The decision in late 2006 to create a Ministry of Tourism and Environment was ingenious. Tourism depends on the environment, and an economic development strategy will not work without rigorous efforts to fill Montenegro’s conception of itself as an “ecological state” with practical measures. The tourists’ “wild beauty” experience lives from the overall impression of an unspoiled nature, whether along the canyons, in the mountains, on the lake, or the delta. Relatively minor changes—for instance, as a result of illegal construction or overdevelopment—will easily and permanently destroy this particular resource. Central and local governments are subjected to the eternal temptation of narrow interests and quick profits that large investments promise. Here, public institutions are challenged to demonstrate their maturity in protecting Montenegro’s unique natural resources and (re)direct private interests in a manner that is consistent with Montenegro’s long-term interest.

Visible pollution is a deterrent to high-end tourism. The flipside to economic development is, of course, the creation of both solid and liquid waste. Treatment and disposal of waste remains a critical challenge, not least because of politically sensitive questions as to the locations, in which waste management takes place. For years, these topics have been discussed, without resolving related challenges. Casual observation suffices to realize this. But recently, movement has come into the debate of how to best manage waste. The central government has demanded from municipalities to communicate their strategies of treating solid waste in a sanitary manner, under the implicit threat of these functions being handled directly from Podgorica. But even without this notice from the central authorities, more and more municipalities have recognized that a solid waste management is in their own vital interest. One very promising development has been the recent agreement between the municipalities in Bar and Ulcinj/Ulqin to jointly construct and operate—with World Bank support—a sanitary landfill in Možura. Of course, these decisions could be complemented by policies that aim at reducing the accumulation of waste, whether by taking the necessary steps to be able to recycle reusable waste or to limit the profligate consumption of throw-away items such as plastic bags, which are prone to creating a visual pollution problem and affecting aquatic wildlife. Similar challenges exist when it comes to treating waste water, a problem that will be even more pronounced if tourism development continues on the current path. But here as well, there has been an increasing recognition of the urgency to take appropriate measures. The regional water project for Montenegro’s coast, implemented with the support from the World Bank, the EBRD, and other international development partners, aims at combining the provision of water with the treatment of waste water so as to prevent a (further) polluting of the key tourist resource “sea water”.

Whether one looks at travel brochures, the figures of Montenegro’s balance of payments, or the state budget, all publications point to the crucial importance of ensuring a constant inflow of tourism receipts and, therefore, of protecting the resources that generate these incomes. In fact, environmental protection has been elevated a constitutional obligation, as this document states that everyone shall have the right to a sound environment and to receive timely and full information about the status of the environmental. Everyone, the state in particular, shall be bound to preserve and enhance the environment. Apart from being attractive, the wild beauty is adept in hard-nosed economic reasoning as well.