There's change afoot in Montenegro, and it's happening quickly.

Most people don’t even know where it is – in a survey carried out by a Montenegrin television station at the World Travel Market in London, only 20 per cent of travel professionals asked could identify its location.

Following independence from Serbia in 2006 and a sudden influx of investment this tiny country of only 650,000 people, only just over half the size of Wales, is about to be put well and truly on the map.

Playground to the stars in the Sixties, the tourism industry fell to pieces during the Balkans conflict in the Nineties.

Multimedia

• Montenegro in pictures

Into the mountains of Montenegro

With Montenegro now a direct flight away, the heart of the country can now be found deep in the forest

• A boutique hotel in Montenegro

Picture-perfect sailing in Croatia and Montenegro

Forget yachts; the best way to see the Dalmatian Coast is by tall ship, and Ginny McGrath knows just the one

• Plain sailing around Croatia

Montenegro, a star in its own right

The country suffers regular comparisons with Croatia, but it has its own charms, says Tony Kelly

A boutique hotel in Montenegro

Francis Kennedy wants a stylish and small property on the Balkan coast

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• Into the mountains of Montenegro

The iconic Sveti Stefan is being renovated. The village on a small outcrop, linked to land by a causeway, fell into disrepair, but is due to reopen next year.

Encouraged to visit by Tito, the charismatic leader of the former Yugoslavia, the small fishing village played host to the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Marilyn Munroe, Sophia Loren and members of the British Royal Family.

It's been leased by exclusive hotel group Aman Resorts, which is pumping a huge amount of money into the restoration of the 15th century fishing village that was converted into a hotel by the former Yugoslavian government.

We arrive on Montenegro Airlines' new London-Tivat route, its first direct scheduled service from the UK to Montenegro.

As the aircraft reduces altitude, we get our first view of the coastline, including a glimpse of Sveti Stefan and Budva, with brooding dark mountains providing a breathtaking backdrop.

Tivat is a small coastal town on the Bay of Kotorska, Europe's southernmost fjord, with its string of exquisite, walled medieval towns that include Perast and UNESCO world heritage site Kotor. Like Dubrovnik, the walled towns are of Venetian influence, though many of the original settlements date back to Illyrian or Roman times.

The tiny airport has a huge advert with an artist's impression of the Astra resort, a new hotel complex due for completion in a year. The main tower of the hotel mimics Dubai's Burj Al Arab, and looks hideously out of place on a headland in such a picture postcard location. It's being built by Mirax, one of the many Russian investors on a strip of coast courted by swathes of Russian tourists.

It's half an hour's drive to Budva, another beautiful old walled town, at the start of the Riviera. On the way our guide, Diana, points out a long sandy beach that, a day after we leave, is playing host to a massive Madonna concert. It's the talk of the town and region, increasing the destination's international profile. Last year's Rolling Stones concert saw visitors from all over the Balkans and further afield.

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