Skopje, 21 July 2023 (MIA) – The country's tourism sector is back to the level of 2019 and is achieving even better results, as shown by the latest data for June and July. The tourist facilities, especially in the Ohrid region, are full, and the stays of the foreign tourists are increasingly longer. The foreign currency inflow has increased significantly, and if the situation continues, we will reach the projected turnover of US$530 million in 2023, said the director of the Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism (APPT), Ljupcho Janevski, on Friday.

At a media briefing, Janevski said that with such continued growth, the country is heading towards its target for 2025 of 3.7 million nights spent and US$600 million of more than 4 percent of GDP.

Janevski noted that due to the political situation, there has been a decrease in the number of Bulgarian tourists this year, which, for comparison, were among the top 5 tourists in 2019. This “deficit” he said, will be made up for by the increased number of tourists from Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Turkey and Slovenia.

The head of the Agency said the largest market so far is the Turkey, with an increase of Turkish tourists by 66 percent, followed by Serbian tourists with 30 percent. However, North Macedonia is also an attractive destination for tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Poland with a larger number of arrivals as of May and June.

“For the first time in Q1 of 2023 tourism has contributed US$93 million to the Macedonian economy, which is a 19 percent increase compared to 2022, and 41 percent more than 2019. This encourages us to conclude that we are on the right path to set out our goals for 2023 and continue towards the 2025 target when we expect to exceed 1988 as the most successful year in Macedonian tourism with over 3.7 million nights spent. Currently, the tourism facilities in the Ohrid region are over 90 percent full, both private accommodation and hotels,” said Janevski.

Janevski noted that one of the challenges that domestic tourism is yet to face is the Chinese market, which is expected to peak in the Balkans in 2024, through the so-called regional routes for which the country has to appropriately prepare.

Based on the latest data, the Macedonian tourism sector employs between 30.000 and 33.000 people, depending on seasonality, which is around 5 percent of the total employees in the Macedonian economy.

Photo: MIA