The fierce anti-Montenegrin propaganda in the part of the state media in Russia and the abuse of fires on the Montenegrin coast was aimed at causing boycott of Montenegro among Russian tourists and redirecting them to other destinations. Such propaganda has achieved exactly the opposite effect, Gennady Sysoev, a political analyst and editor in Moscow’s Kommersant, told the Skala Radio.
“It’s about spreading misinformation and lies, which would be banned in every professional media outlet. In addition to various speculations about Russian tourists being endangered in Montenegro, certain media outlets reported that some cities in the Montenegrin coast were devastated in fires on the Lustica peninsula in July. However, these and other lies have not achieved any negative effect, as evidenced not only by the number of Russian tourists who come to Montenegro, but also by their impressions,” Sysoev said.
They denied the allegations on fires and other fabricated anti-propaganda, he said.
According to him, the interesting thing is that a lot of Russian tourists, who never visited Montenegro before, came this year.
“Those who are permanent guests from Russia do not need any additional information, because they have their friends here who can easily check media information aired by state-run media in Russia,” he said.
Possible additional motive for the Russian tourists who came for the first time was the curiosity, Sysoev said.
“It is not only my impression on the opposite effect of the Russian propaganda – people who are professionally engaged in Russian tourism, as well as Russian tourism workers conclude the same thing. Russian tourist operators issued a statement through Stasa agency, confirming that there was no reduced interest or cancelling bookings for Montenegro by Russian tourists… Judging by the things that Russian citizens and tourists post on social media, they are very satisfied and their number is increasing,” Sysoev said.
