Ohrid, 7 June 2022 (MIA) – Digitization of the tourism sector is very important, and it’s happening whether we like it or not. It is part of our work and we will achieve better results if we get involved in the process sooner, according to the Dean of the Ohrid Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Cvetko Andreeski. At a presentation titled “Digital solutions for tourism” held Tuesday at the Ohrid University of Information Science and Technology "St. Paul the Apostle", Andreeski pointed out that representatives of the IT industry and tourism will discuss their needs and opportunities that digitization offers, as well as what they can use to position themselves better than their competition, and how to communicate better with clients, tour operators and everyone else in the tourism sector, "In this way, they will be able to offer services of higher quality and lower prices, and the data they gather from the digitization process will help them conduct a quality analysis to see where they stand, and what they can do to improve their position, services and communication in the future”, he added. Andreeski also believes that the digitization of the tourism sector, which is imposed by the development of IT and communications tech, will lead to more information and ways to analyze it, and informal communication can help us draw conclusions to create higher quality services. Dean Aleksandar Karadimche of the Ohrid University of Information Science and Technology "St. Paul the Apostle" said the goal of today’s meeting is to incorporate interested parties in the tourist sector with the digital solutions they offer. “The university offers development support for all those business solutions which are meant to relieve and improve the process by developing an accelerator program that will facilitate all accesses to digital solutions on the market,” Karadimche added. Ljupcho Janevski, Director of the Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism, said they are working intensely to digitize the tourist sector in multiple aspects. “The process of digitization is a great challenge for the tourism industry and sector, and I expect an even greater deal of measures, changes, and training with the tourism sector in the future,” he said, adding that he hopes that the Agency, in cooperation with the Faculty of Tourism and the City of Ohrid, will apply together to receive funding from IPA and other funds with which they will enable digitization tools and education. Lucien Aegerter, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation, believes that digitization is key to get highly valuable tourists above all. “It’s still difficult to make reservations online for foreigners for some services, despite the degree of digitization of the tourism sector in North Macedonia, which is why it’s very important to bring partners from the IT and tourism sector together to implement these activities,” Aegerter said. The presentation is part of the the Swiss-funded Increasing Market Employability Programme, in partnership with the University of Information Science and Technology "St. Paul the Apostle" and the Ohrid Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality. dk/ik/