June 11 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's government expects the total revenue generated by the country's tourism sector to decline by 40% in 2020 as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, a senior government official said.
"According to current estimates, we expect a drop in tourist turnover of about 40%. However, there are still unclear points when it comes to COVID-19, as there is room for a better result in the post-summer season period if there is no second wave of the disease," Damir Davidovic, state secretary at Montenegro's sustainable development and tourism ministry, said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of the government.
Montenegro's tourism industry traditionally generates 75% of its revenue in the second half of the year, Davidovic said. "We believe that the normalisation expected during June will contribute to a stronger number of tourist arrivals in July," he stated.
The second quarter of 2020 was lost for the country's tourism industry, whereas last year 207 million euro of income was generated in the period, he added.
In its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects report published earlier this week, the World Bank said it expects Montenegro's gross domestic product (GDP) to decline by 5.6% in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis. "Tourist arrivals have collapsed in Europe and Central Asia, but the impacts may be felt most strongly in countries such as Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Montenegro, and Turkey, where tourism accounts for a sizable share of GDP," the World Bank said.