“Let’s Spend the Summer in Montenegro” is the name of an initiative through which the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System seeks to support the domestic tourism industry and, within the limits of its available resources, discreetly mitigate the negative effects of the novel coronavirus epidemic on this sector. CEDIS offers its employees a 30 per cent contribution towards the cost of stays at Montenegrin hotels with which it has contractual arrangements through its trade union organisations. In addition to this contribution, employees may pay the remaining costs in ten monthly instalments, while CEDIS will pay the hotel operators the full amount when the arrangements take place.
– With around 1,350 employees, CEDIS is one of the largest companies in Montenegro, and we recognised this as an opportunity when we were devising the initiative. Offering financial incentives to such a large workforce to spend their holidays in Montenegrin hotels is, given the scale of the crisis in tourism, an incentive for hotel operators, while also providing employees with further confirmation of the company’s responsible approach. “Let’s Spend the Summer in Montenegro” is the result of a sincere desire to help improve the situation in tourism, within the limits of our capabilities – said Zoran Đukanović, CEDIS Executive Director.
The SOZ and SO CEDIS trade union organisations, through whose involvement the initiative is being organised, report exceptional interest from hotels in taking part. Also, judging by the employees’ initial response and the number of arrangements made just a few days after the initiative began, a significant proportion of the CEDIS workforce is expected to take advantage of these benefits.
The National Tourism Organisation recognises the importance of the initiative, which aims to enable citizens to take summer holidays on favourable terms, and notes that “Let’s Spend the Summer in Montenegro” is a good example of both social responsibility towards employees and support for the domestic tourism industry in these exceptional circumstances.
– It is important that this year we support the national economy, both through promotion and by offering special benefits and initiatives to encourage the citizens of Montenegro to spend their holidays in their own country – representatives of the NTO emphasised.
Žarko Radulović, President of the Montenegrin Tourism Association (CTU), noted that initiatives of this kind are significant in many ways:
– This is precisely how we demonstrate that a swift and coordinated response to the new circumstances, through cooperation among trade union organisations, companies such as CEDIS, the NTO and tourism businesses, is essential to mitigating the economic crisis facing not only tourism but the country’s entire economic system. Most importantly, the money will be spent in Montenegro and, through the applicable taxes, a large portion will return to the state treasury – Radulović concluded.
