Strengthening the role of local government to ensure sustainable development of the cruise sector: The case of Kotor

The continuous increase in the number of cruise ships calling at the port of Kotor makes Montenegro a recognisable cruising destination and favourably affects its economic development. Concurrently, the increased number of cruise ships exerts pressure on environment (sea, air and land), local community and local environmental units. The existing legal framework regulates this pressure only partly, in particular when it comes to cruiser-generated pollution. The local government should be more interested and involved not only in shaping the offer of the cruising destination but also in improving the solutions related to prevention of pollution. This should be done through improved monitoring and controls, comparative analyses, in-depth research, and studies. Particularly important is to identify the specificities of the local community with the aim of protecting and valorising them. Accordingly, this work provides guidelines on the directions and manners which the local government could pursue in order act more efficiently toward ensuring a sustainable growth and development of cruise tourism, particularly bearing in mind that Kotor is a region with rich cultural heritage and rare natural beauties under UNESCO protection.