Macedonia has doubled its tourism turnover in the past eight years, and the strong growth is continuing, says Kiril Dzambazovski, director of the Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism.
"Our growth has seen a continuous rise between two and two-and-a-half times compared to the world average. For the past eight years, we have seen a constant growth in tourism, about 10% per year, and this has been noted by the World Tourism Organization," Dzambovski says.
According to the tourism agency director, 2014 has been the best year for tourism in Macedonia so far, with a strong increase in foreign tourists. "The number of domestic tourists has increased by 4%, while the number of foreign tourists by 7% and has reached 405, 000 in total. The ski centers are also seeing an influx of foreign guests and we should wait for the end of the winter season to make the final assessment for 2014," Dzambazovski adds.
The increase in the number of tourists is partially due, according to Dzambazovski, to the programs set to promote the country, as well as the reduction in the value added tax for tourism from 18 to 5 percent. The Government backed subsidies for low cost flight operators to Skopje and Ohrid, which have also helped in raising the number of foreign tourists.
"We now have 26 direct flights from both Macedonian airports, with six more low cost flights coming soon. To make the most of them, our Agency promotes Macedonian tourism sites, including sports tourism, winter and mountain tourism and try to improve the country's position as an international destination," Dzambazovski says.
