The Periplus Maris Erythraei names several Indian ports from where large ships sailed in an easterly direction to Khruse (Kruče - seaside village in Ulcinj).

The geographer Antonio Baldacci reported a merchant marine of 500 ships plying the trade routes between the Adriatic and Mediterranean coasts.

But Muslim Albanian resistance prevented the Montenegrins from taking over Plav and Gusinje, so the Great Powers in 1880 decided to reverse the territorial transfer and offered Ulcinj, then also known as Dulcigno, to Montenegro as compensation.

In May 1880, the Great Powers (Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia) protested diplomatically and organized a naval demonstration off the coast of Dulcigno to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire to resolve the dispute peacefully.

The Ottoman Empire eventually agreed to cede the town and surrounding territory to Montenegro in exchange for compensation.

[citation needed] After the city's annexation to Montenegro, of its 8,000-strong population about 3,000 Albanians left and settled elsewhere in northern Albania.

Ulcinj remained within a Montenegrin entity whilst a South Slavic state had existed until 2006 when which it became part of an independent Montenegro following a referendum.

In just three decades, it slid back to 6th place for economic development and number of inhabitants (after Podgorica, Niksic, Cetinje, Tivat and Plava).

As the southernmost city of the coast of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Ulcinj had a strong turnaround in the 1930s with the development of the tourist industry.

[25][26][27] The 1950s and 1960s marked the greatest period of economic development for Ulcinj, with the construction of a range of modern hotels in the city and the Great Plain, as well as major economic collectives (NHT "Riviera of Ulcinj", "Agroulqini", Primary Building Company, "Otrantkomerc", "Ultep" and others).

In the catastrophic Montenegro earthquake on April 15, 1979, the city was severely damaged, but after only a few years, with the solidarity of the citizens of entire Yugoslavia, it was quickly renovated.

Ulcinj at the end of the eighties had about 40 percent of the tourist turnover in Montenegro, while two-thirds of the guests were foreign, mostly German.

In January 2010, the New York Times named ranked the south coast region of Montenegro, featuring Velika Plaza, Ada Bojana, and the Hotel Mediteran, as one of "The Top 31 Places to Go in 2010".

[33] Although Ulcinj is still undiscovered by many travelers from larger countries, repeat tourists and an increasing number of first-time visitors make it a hot spot for vacationers between the months of May and September.

[citation needed] The most valuable resource of the Ulcinj riviera is Velika plaža (Albanian: Plazha e Madhe, lit.

"The Korzo", as it is called by locals, is a promenade which separates a street lined with coffee shops from Mala plaža.

The old town sits atop a rocky bluff overlooking the shore and is being rapidly restored as a tourist centre.

The majority of tourists that visit Ulcinj are Albanians, Serbians, Croatians, Bosnians, Slovenians, Macedonians, Russians, Ukrainians, and other Europeans.

Kitesurfing at Ada Bojana, all manner of water sports at Velika plaža, scuba diving among wrecks and sunken cities, mountain biking, hiking, orienteering, cycling through the olive groves at Valdanos, long walks along the pristine beaches of the south coast of Montenegro, even deep sea fishing on the Adriatic, lake fishing at Lake Skadar, and river fishing in Ada Bojana, Due to the fact that the favorable habitat for wild life, has excellent conditions of hunting tourism.

This place is the haven of ornithological (gourmand) hunting in Reč and Shenkol most common wildlife are woodcock, hare, wild boar, and ducks.

Reaching inland is made possible by detouring from the Adriatic Highway at Budva or Sutomore (through the Sozina Tunnel).

Many tourists traveling to Ulcinj from abroad arrive to the city from the airport in Tivat due to its recent renovations and general ease of navigation.