The Serbian Economist reports that the tourist flow to Montenegro in the first quarter of 2026 declined by almost 4 per cent amid a sharp drop in the number of visitors from Turkey and a continued decline in the Russian segment, according to the statistical office Monstat.
In January-March 2026, Montenegro received 169,419,000 Tourists who made 1.079 million overnight stays in all types of accommodation. Compared to the same period last year, the number of tourists decreased by 6.4 thousand, or 3.8%, while the number of overnight stays decreased by 41 thousand, or 3.7%.
The main factor for the decrease was the Turkish market. According to Vijesti, Turkish citizens made 60,359 thousand overnight stays in Q1 compared to 114,477 thousand a year earlier. Thus, the indicator fell by 54 thousand overnight stays, or 47%. Especially strong decline was recorded in private accommodation: the number of overnight stays of Turkish citizens decreased from 95.043 thousand to 44.744 thousand.
Tour operators attribute the decline to the events of late October 2025, when after the incident in Podgorica with the participation of foreign workers from Turkey and Azerbaijan there were attacks on the property and businesses of Turkish citizens. Following this, the Montenegrin government temporarily introduced a visa regime for Turkish citizens. In December 2025, the visa-free regime was restored, but in a reduced format: the period of stay without a visa was reduced from 90 to 30 days.
The Russian segment also continued to shrink. Only in private accommodation Russian citizens in the first quarter of 2026 made 317 thousand overnight stays against 370 thousand a year earlier. The drop amounted to 53 thousand overnight stays, or 14%. In two years, the Russian tourist flow to Montenegro has already significantly decreased: in 2023, tourists from Russia made about 3.7 million overnight stays, and in 2025 – about 2.4 million.
Some of the losses have been compensated by other markets, primarily Serbia. According to Vijesti, the number of overnight stays of guests from Serbia in the first quarter increased by almost 50 thousand compared to the same period last year. The number of overnight stays of tourists from Albania, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina also increased, but it was not enough to cover the decline in Turkish and Russian flows.
Serbia remains one of Montenegro’s key tourist markets. According to the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, Serbian citizens accounted for 18.1% of foreign tourist arrivals in 2025, ranking first among external markets. In private accommodation, the share of Serbian tourists for overnight stays in 2025 was 25.6%, which also makes Serbia one of the main sources of demand for the Montenegrin tourism sector.
Ukrainian tourists are also a significant group of visitors to Montenegro, especially in private accommodation. According to Monstat data for 2025, tourists from Ukraine accounted for 4.7% of overnight stays of foreign tourists in private accommodation, which compares to Turkey’s share of 4.9% in this segment.
Official monthly statistics show that in March 2026, there were 56,306 thousand and 123,913 thousand overnight stays in collective accommodation in Montenegro. Foreigners provided 71.9% of all overnight stays, while the bulk came from seaside resorts – 72.4%. Among foreign tourists in March, guests from Serbia led the way with 5,980 thousand arrivals, followed by Albania, Germany, China, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.