Montenegro is preparing a €1.37 million national tourism information system designed to bring more private accommodation into the formal economy and improve the collection of tourism-related revenue. The Tourism Ministry has launched procurement for the platform, with bids due and implementation scheduled over 12 months in six phases.
The system is intended to centralise accommodation records, guest registrations and check-in and check-out information, while improving access to data for tourism authorities, municipalities and inspectors. It is also designed to strengthen monitoring of taxes and fees associated with accommodation.
Government assessment identifies €86 million annual gap
The project addresses a significant area of informal activity in Montenegro’s tourism sector. Private apartments, houses and rooms account for a substantial share of accommodation capacity, particularly along the coast, while official registers do not always reflect the full volume of activity promoted through digital booking platforms.
A government-backed assessment estimates that unregistered accommodation, outdated records and weak collection mechanisms are linked to approximately €86 million in lost annual revenue. The estimate does not include some indirect losses, such as tourist taxes, meaning the overall fiscal effect could be higher depending on the methodology applied. The proposed platform would give inspectors more immediate access to accommodation and visitor information, reducing reliance on physical inspections and fragmented municipal databases.
Digital platforms provide additional data sources
The need for more integrated information is increasing as tourism transactions move online. Montenegro is separately preparing closer data exchange with platforms including Booking.com and Airbnb. This could allow authorities to compare online listings and bookings with domestic registrations and tax declarations.
Combined with the national information system, those measures could increase visibility over private accommodation. For operators complying with registration and tax requirements, stronger enforcement could reduce competition from landlords that do not pay applicable taxes, registration costs or tourism charges. For informal hosts, online marketing could increasingly generate digital records that authorities can compare with government databases.
Improved data could strengthen tourism statistics
The system is also expected to affect the quality of tourism statistics. Official figures can understate tourism activity when visitors staying in private accommodation are not properly registered. More comprehensive information would provide policymakers, investors and hotel operators with a clearer picture of visitor numbers, source markets and seasonal demand.
The data would become relevant as Montenegro considers whether tourism policy should continue prioritising visitor growth or place greater emphasis on revenue per guest and extending the tourism season.
Common data infrastructure could support municipalities
Municipal governments could also benefit from improved information. Coastal local governments rely on tourist taxes and other tourism-related revenue but have different levels of administrative capacity. A national platform could reduce those differences by providing common data infrastructure. The proposed €1.37 million investment is less than 2% of the estimated €86 million annual revenue gap.
The potential fiscal return would therefore remain significant even if authorities recovered only part of the estimated leakage.
Implementation depends on data integration
The effectiveness of the central database will depend on accommodation providers, municipalities, tax authorities and booking platforms supplying information that is timely and compatible. Authorities will also need to ensure that reporting requirements do not create unnecessary administrative costs for legitimate small-scale landlords. Private accommodation represents an important part of Montenegro’s tourism market, making formalisation a central objective rather than the removal of small operators from the market.
Tourism administration shifts toward digital enforcement
The project forms part of a broader move toward digital tax enforcement in Montenegro. Electronic invoicing, new tax registers and automated data from platforms are gradually reducing reliance on systems that depend heavily on physical inspections.
Tourism represents a significant area for this approach because much of the market is already visible digitally to customers while remaining only partly visible to public authorities. The new system is intended to narrow that information gap by improving the registration, measurement and taxation of accommodation already being offered to visitors.
