Ulcinj is hosting approximately 42,500 tourists, representing a 6% increase year-on-year, as the southern coastal municipality records one of its strongest peak-season occupancy levels in recent years.
The figures published by the Ulcinj Tourism Organisation represent the number of visitors staying in the municipality at a specific moment, rather than total arrivals accumulated since the beginning of the year. They nevertheless show the pressure placed on accommodation facilities, roads, beaches and municipal infrastructure during the first week of August. Foreign visitors account for approximately 41,400 guests, representing more than 97% of the total, confirming Ulcinj’s dependence on international markets, including neighbouring countries, the wider diaspora and European visitors.
Private accommodation leads visitor growth
The largest increase is coming from private accommodation, including apartments, rooms, houses and villas. This segment is hosting around 33,000 tourists, up 9% compared with the same period in 2025, and represents almost 78% of all officially registered visitors in the municipality.
Hotels are accommodating approximately 7,600 guests, with numbers broadly unchanged compared with last year. Their market share is around 18%. Camps are hosting about 1,600 visitors, down 2%, while holiday resorts and similar facilities account for 284 guests, an increase of 10%, although their contribution remains limited. The overall increase in visitors is therefore primarily linked to privately owned accommodation rather than growth in professionally managed hotel capacity.
Private accommodation spreads tourism income among local property owners and supports restaurants, retail businesses, taxi operators and beach services. However, it generally provides lower average daily rates, shorter booking visibility and less structured reporting compared with the hotel sector.
Visitor numbers accelerate towards August peak
Ulcinj’s current visitor figure compares with approximately 37,000 tourists recorded on July 23, meaning the number of guests increased by around 5,500 within two weeks as the season approached its peak. The increase reflects the municipality’s dependence on regional road traffic, family travel and apartment-based tourism.
At the same time, the rapid seasonal population increase highlights pressure on infrastructure designed for a much smaller permanent population. During peak periods, water consumption, wastewater volumes, electricity demand, waste generation and road traffic rise significantly compared with off-season levels.
Velika Plaža remains key tourism asset
Ulcinj’s main tourism asset remains Velika Plaža, an approximately 12-kilometre sandy beach extending towards the Bojana River and Ada Bojana. The municipality also combines the Old Town, Mala Plaža, Valdanos, the Bojana delta and a distinct cultural and culinary offer that separates it from more intensively developed parts of the Montenegrin coast.
The size of Velika Plaža allows Ulcinj to accommodate visitor numbers that would create stronger congestion pressures in destinations such as Budva, Kotor and Herceg Novi. Available space does not eliminate infrastructure limitations. Road access, parking, wastewater treatment, drainage and uncontrolled construction remain important constraints for further development.
€61.8 million wastewater investment planned
A major €61.8 million wastewater project is intended to address part of Ulcinj’s infrastructure deficit.
The project is financed through:
- approximately €31 million in EU grants
- more than €26 million in KfW financing
- national contributions
The programme includes construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and improvements to the sewerage and water-supply network, with completion expected by 2028. The planned treatment facility is designed for a long-term capacity of up to 120,000 population equivalents, with the initial phase covering approximately 40,000 population equivalents. The scale reflects the difference between Ulcinj’s permanent population and the effective population created during the tourism season. For the municipality, wastewater infrastructure is also an economic requirement for future hotel investment, higher-density development and maintaining bathing-water quality standards.
Infrastructure capacity becomes investment factor
International hotel operators and financial institutions consider utility capacity an important factor when evaluating coastal projects. The current accommodation structure creates additional challenges because thousands of individual apartments and seasonal properties require more fragmented connections, registration and billing compared with large hotel facilities.
The same issue affects tourism taxation. Officially registered private accommodation accounts for 33,000 guests, but the actual number of visitors staying in the municipality may be higher due to unregistered properties and guests.
This affects:
- residence-tax collection
- infrastructure planning
- competition between registered and unregistered operators
Montenegro’s Tax Administration increased inspections during the 2026 summer season, carrying out more than 2,000 controls and imposing fines approaching €1.8 million by the end of July. Accommodation providers, hospitality companies and other cash-intensive businesses were among the sectors subject to increased monitoring.
Hotel capacity remains limited compared with private rentals
The growth structure has implications for investment. Hotels face formal obligations related to construction, employment, environmental standards and taxation, while unregistered accommodation can operate with lower costs. This difference affects hotel pricing and the feasibility of professionally managed tourism projects.
Ulcinj requires additional hotel development, but the focus is not only on increasing bed numbers. The investment gap is in professionally operated, branded and environmentally compliant accommodation capable of increasing visitor spending and extending the tourism season.
One of the most visible developments is Porta Rai Beachfront Hotel & Residences on Velika Plaža.
The project is planned as a mixed hotel and residential complex across approximately 10 hectares, including:
- seven buildings
- more than 550 units
- a natural lake
- landscaped areas
- around 300 metres of beachfront
Units have been marketed at approximately €176,000 to €185,000, depending on size and sales channel. The project uses a condo-hotel structure, allowing individual investors to finance part of the residential inventory. Its long-term performance will depend on central management quality, owner-use restrictions, rental-pool arrangements and maintaining hotel-level operating standards after unit sales.
Ada Bojana development strategy targets higher capacity
The state-owned tourism company HTP Ulcinjska Rivijera has prepared a development strategy for Ada Bojana.
The plan aims to increase accommodation capacity from approximately 550 beds to 1,000 beds by 2030.
Planned additions include:
- new camping areas
- mobile homes
- spa facilities
- swimming pools
- sports infrastructure
Ada Bojana represents a different tourism segment from mass private accommodation, with potential linked to nature-based and wellness tourism. Future development will need to consider environmental limits, including erosion, flooding risks and the sensitivity of the Bojana delta.
Large-scale coastal investment proposals continue
The wider Velika Plaža area has attracted interest from international investors, including proposals connected with UAE-based developer Mohamed Alabbar and Eagle Hills. The undeveloped coastline has generated interest in large resort concepts, while also raising issues related to land control, public access, environmental protection and the conditions under which state assets could be developed.
Current tourism figures indicate that Ulcinj’s challenge is not attracting visitors, but improving infrastructure and increasing the share of higher-value tourism activity. With 78% of registered visitors staying in private accommodation, Ulcinj operates closer to a distributed holiday-rental market than a conventional hotel destination. This model provides resilience by distributing income among local households, but creates challenges related to quality control, destination management and international positioning.
Longer season remains key development target
The unchanged hotel figure of 7,600 guests indicates that hotel capacity has not significantly expanded alongside visitor growth.
Additional hotel supply could be supported in segments including:
- upper-midscale accommodation
- family resorts
- sports tourism
- nature tourism
Seasonality remains the main issue for investment decisions.
Although Ulcinj can host more than 40,000 visitors in August, the number of guests falls significantly during shoulder months.
Hotel viability depends on annual occupancy levels rather than peak-season demand alone.
Potential products for extending the season include:
- kitesurfing
- cycling
- birdwatching
- wellness tourism
- gastronomy
- events
Velika Plaža is already recognised as a regional kitesurfing location, while the Ulcinj Salina, Ada Bojana and Bojana delta support nature-based tourism activities.
Transport access remains a constraint
Ulcinj relies mainly on road arrivals from Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while international air passengers generally use Podgorica and Tivat airports. Summer congestion between Bar and Ulcinj reduces accessibility during the busiest period. Proposals for a future Ulcinj airport have periodically appeared in policy discussions, but no bankable financing and construction programme has replaced road dependence.
Near-term priorities remain improvements to:
- road infrastructure
- public transport
- traffic management
- connections with Podgorica Airport
The municipality’s 6% visitor growth confirms continued demand despite inflation, higher travel costs and competition from regional destinations. The structure of growth remains significant: private accommodation increased by 9%, hotel numbers remained unchanged and camping declined by 2%.
The wastewater programme, Ada Bojana strategy and projects such as Porta Rai address different parts of Ulcinj’s development gap. The future performance of the tourism sector will depend on infrastructure capacity, investment quality, season extension and the ability to convert visitor growth into higher local economic value.
