The hotel facilities on the Ohrid-Struga Riviera are more than half full. Maximum occupancy of 80-90 percent hoteliers expect around Ilinden, a period in which before the pandemic more beds were required.

The President of the Association of Hoteliers - HOTAM Krste Blazeski expects over the next month, the occupancy to be over 70 percent, but that, he says, will not take them out of the crisis in which the sector is.

- The first plane from "Ptuj" landed at Ohrid Airport yesterday. But these will be only one or two charter flights per week, depending on the demand and is a small help, injection in filling the accommodation facilities. Before the pandemic, this period we had five or six charter flights a week from the Dutch and even from other countries, when the hotels were significantly full. Over the next month, we expect the occupancy to be over 70 percent, but that does not take us out of the crisis. If we look at the statistics for the first six months of the year when we have nothing, this month will not take us out, but it will alleviate a little, Bla Бeski thinks.

An additional blow, according to him, is the request of some European Union member states, after staying in certain countries, mandatory quarantine.

The head of the hoteliers does not expect significant effects from the vouchers for domestic tourism, which are given by the Government.

- The state gives 250.000 euros for vouchers for domestic tourism, which required many documents. Given that I think that not even half will be used and the effect of all that will not be achieved, said Blazeski.

For the development of tourism, he believes that a strategy is needed, which should now be developed for next year.

- A complete plan for the coast is needed. Until that plan is adopted to know what can be put in one place, there will be no development and there will be things to collapse. When that is resolved, we will know in which part where we can build, whether we are for mass or elite tourism and the like. But what we are talking about does not mean that May or June should come to solve our problems. This should now be seen on the ground, everything is being done and a new strategy for 2022 should be started, and not to wait for June to come and then to take pictures of how we react on the ground, and in reality there is nothing, Blazeski told MIA.

He says that the discounts of 10 and 20 percent for accommodation for Serbian tourists did not work either.

- The interest is very weak. The reason for that is the infrastructure. It takes three hours to get from Skopje to Ohrid, during which time they will reach Greece. They also have a free toll there, and they have to pay it to Ohrid or Struga. Irrational moves were made in terms of tourism, added the president of HOTAM, who considers the solution to the problem with the beaches before the start of the tourist season as a mistake, a problem that, according to him, should have been solved much earlier.