All other countries have reached 2019 figures in tourism, and we are still far from pre-crisis levels. We are seeing a 30 percent drop in foreign tourists, and we have not used the potential of the regional and domestic markets, so apart from the increase in Serbian, there is no increase in the number of other tourists from the neighborhood, the Chamber of Commerce announced today.

On the eve of tomorrow's Tourism Day, the Chamber pointed out that only in the Netherlands, which is the market from which the largest number of overnight stays have been realized for years, there is a decrease of 60 percent.

- The importance of foreign tourists is worth noting, because 94 percent of them spent the night in hotels, which means that the strongest impact is on hoteliers who generate jobs. We note a decrease in the number of overnight stays by 30 percent, because it is foreigners who generate overnight stays in hotels. The hotels on the lakes, for example, in Ohrid and Struško, record a decrease of 140 overnight stays, said Daniela Mihajlovska Vasilevska from the Chamber.

According to her, the total number of tourists compared to 2019 for the period January-July is lower by 127 or by 000 overnight stays.

- This is a drop of about 30 percent. The number of domestic tourists and overnight stays from realized domestic tourists for the same period reached the level of 2019, while the number of foreign tourists and realized overnight stays from foreign tourists is lower by 135 tourists or by 000 overnight stays, which is 261 percent less. This shows that we are still far from reaching the pre-crisis level, stresses Mihajlovska Vasilevska.

The president of the Association for Hospitality and Tourism at the Chamber, Ana Tanevska Georgievska reminded that the only sector that can make up for economic losses in the short term is tourism. She informed that the Association prepared a Plan for intensive economic growth and promotion of exports through tourism.

-Research has shown that trips within a radius of 600 kilometers from the place of residence, in a clean ecological environment, will be the first choice of tourists in the years to come. So far, North Macedonia as a destination has not used the potential of the regional markets, nor of the domestic market. Apart from the increase in the number of tourists from Serbia, there has been no increase in the number of tourists from other countries in the region. We can count on a market of 50 million potential tourists without Turkey, supplemented by 3,5 million travelers a year who transit through North Macedonia for whom there is not enough content to keep them here longer, noted Tanevska Georgievska.

She pointed out that an investment in four beds for tourist accommodation is equivalent to one employment.

-Appropriately designed measures and policies can provide additional accommodation capacity for 60 beds dispersed throughout the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. The creation of attractive conditions will ensure domestic and foreign investments, with which additional over one billion euros can be poured into the Macedonian economy, more than 000 thousand people will be directly employed and rural areas will be revitalized, all this almost without investment expenses from the state treasury, the president emphasized. of the Association..

In tourism, said Tanevska Georgievska, expensive electricity and lack of staff are still among the biggest problems.