TOURISM PROFILE

MACEDONIA

Macedonia is one of the smaller countries in Europe – in

total the country has around two million inhabitants

2

Cities and regions

Macedonia consists of 80 municipalities (10 of them constitute the City of Skopje). This is the

only administrative division in the country, as there are no counties/regions.

The biggest municipality is Prilep ( ) in the South-Central part of Macedonia (boarding

Greece) with a surface of 1.198 square kilometers - the smallest municipality (besides some of

the municipalities of Skopje) is Vevčani ( ) in the Western part of the country with only 35

square kilometers.

Skopje (507’)

Kumanovo (106’)

Bitola (95’)

Tetovo (87’)

Gostivar (81’)

Prilep (77’)

Struga (63’)

Kičevo (57’)

Ohrid (56’)

Veles (55’)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

10 largest cities in Macedonia

6

1

2

5

7

4

3

9

8

10

Skopje airport is the main entrance gate for Macedonia – an

international airport also exists in Ohrid

3

Transport infrastructure

Source: ACI Internat ional

The airport in Skopje generates the majority

of the annual air passengers in Macedonia.

The only other international airport is Ohrid

with currently around 83.000 annual

passengers.

In 2013 Skopje airport registered 984.000

passengers – this is another increase in

comparison to the previous year. The overall

development is positive, as the airport

achieved to increase the number of annual

passengers every year since 2009.

Also at Ohrid airport the number of annual

passengers increased significantly between

2010 and 2013 – from 44.000 to 83.000.

Since 2008 both airports are managed by

the Turkish company Tepe Akfen Ventures

(TAV).

Currently Skopje has direct flight

connections to Ljubljana, Belgrade, Rome,

Vienna, Zurich, Zagreb, Dubai, Berlin,

Istanbul, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais,

Bergamo, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn,

Dortmund, Eindhoven, Gothenburg,

Frankfurt, London, Malmö, Memmingen,

Stockholm and Treviso. Ohrid only offers

seasonal flight connections.

Annual airport passengers in Skopje and Ohrid

653 601681

760 829984

44 75 78 83

0

400

800

1.200

1.600

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

thousand

Skopje Ohrid

Tourism in Macedonia currently represents 5,0 % of the GDP

and contributes USD 264 annually per inhabitant

4

Economic importance of tourism

Source: W TTC

Tourism Contribution to GDP 2013 (in %) Contribution to GDP 2013 (per inhabitant, USD)

Currently the travel and tourism industry contributes 5,0 %

to the national GDP of Macedonia – the country is therefore

ranked on the 42nd position out of 47 analyzed countries in

Europe.

At the same time, this figure did not change significantly

over the last 15 years, as the contribution was relatively

stable between 4,3 % and 5,7 % since the year 2000.

The more meaningful figure, when it comes to evaluate the

importance of tourism for a country, is the total contribution

per inhabitant.

In Macedonia the total volume of the travel & tourism

industry to the GDP was USD 264 per inhabitant. This is on

the level of countries like Ukraine, Armenia, Serbia and

Belarus.

54

55

57

264

271

321

6.290

6.747

9.660

0 2.500 5.000 7.500 10.000 12.500

Uzbekistan

Moldova

Kyrgyzstan

Macedonia

Armenia

Ukraine

Switzerland

Luxembourg

Iceland 1

2

3

GG.

42

43

44

Croatia

(27,7 %)

Malta

(25,5 %)

Iceland

(21,6 %)

Romania

(5,1 %)

Macedonia

(5,0 %)

Germany

(4,7 %)

GG.

1 2 3

41 42 43

GG.

45

46

47

Only 21 % of all beds in Macedonia are situated in hotels –

in total the country has a capacity of around 70.300 beds

5

Number of beds

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

* CAGR = Compound Annual Growth Rate

Beds (in 000) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 CAGR*

Hotels 11.307 12.374 13.317 13.884 14.724 +6,8 %

Private accommodation 25.134 26.132 26.132 26.232 26.032 +0,9 %

Camping 8.726 8.971 8.971 9.011 9.011 +0,8 %

Others 24.394 21.625 21.317 21.160 20.530 -4,2 %

Total 69.561 69.102 69.737 70.287 70.297 +0,3 %

The number of beds in hotels increased from 11.300 in 2009 to

14.700 in 2013. This equals a compound annual growth rate of

6,8 %. Currently the share of hotel beds amount to

approximately 21 %.

A strong increase has been registered in the last five years in

the amount of beds in 3-star hotels (plus 2.300 beds) and 4-

star hotels (additional 1.500 beds). The amount of beds in

private accommodation facilities and at camping sites

remained relatively stable.

1,3

1,7

2,7

4,2

1,5

3,8

5,8

5,0

0

2

4

6

8

09 10 11 12 13

thousand

5-star 4-star 3-star 2-/1-star

More than 2,1 million overnights had been generated in 2013

– stable figures over the last five years

6

Number of overnights

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

* CAGR = Compound Annual Growth Rate

Overnights (in 000) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 CAGR*

Hotels 722 688 888 937 1.005 8,6 %

Private accommodation 788 754 738 681 648 -4,8 %

Spas 129 216 220 216 222 14,5 %

Others 463 362 327 318 282 -11,7 %

Total 2.102 2.020 2.173 2.152 2.157 0,6 %

While the number of overnights in hotels increased

from 722.000 to over a million between 2009 and

2013, the number of overnights in private

accommodation continuously decreased.

Within the hotel segment, the 3-star hotels achieved

the most significant increase in the last five years with

an CAGR of 32,3 %.

127

211

83

301

188

384

254

178

0

200

400

600

5-stars 4-stars 3-stars 2-/1-stars

thousand

09 13 09 13 09 13

CAGR*:

+10,3 %

09 13

CAGR*:

+16,1 %

CAGR*:

+32,3 %

CAGR*:

-12,3 %

Development of overnights in hotels (by category)

Macedonia has only a very limited number of hotels

operated by international hotel operators

7

Internationally branded hotels

Source: W ebsite of the hotel chains

Hotels Macedonia Hungary Bulgaria Serbia Croatia Romania

Intercontinental 1 2 1 2 - 2

Wyndham 1 2 2 - - 11

Marriott - 4 - - - 1

Hilton - 2 2 - 2 5

Accor - 18 2 - - 6

Number of hotels of the five largest international hotel chains

Hotels in

MacedoniaLocation

Intercontinental Skopje

Wyndham Gevgelija

Marriott -

Hilton -

Accor -

From the five largest international hotel chains (Inter-

continental, Wyndham, Marriott, Hilton and Accor) only

Intercontinental and Wyndham are active in Macedonia,

with one Holiday Inn in Skopje and one Ramada in

Gevgelija.

The situation is similar in other countries of the former

Yugoslavia (2 hotels in Serbia and 2 hotels in Croatia) but

less than other countries in the region – e.g. Hungary

already has 28 hotels of those hotel chains and Romania

25.

The main reason for this is, that the existing hotel properties

are hardly suitable to be operated by international chains

(due to size, seasonality, etc.).

Ohrid generates the largest amount of annual overnights,

followed by Struga and Skopje

8

Tourism-intensive municipalities

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

Ohrid 796

Struga 277

Skopje 252

Dojran 135

Strumitsa 73

Krushevo 66

Debar 62

Bitola 62

Mavrovo and Rostusha 44

Resen 26

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

The top 3 municipalities regarding annual overnights (Ohrid, Struga and Skopje), generate more than 61 % of the total overnights

in Macedonia. Ohrid Municipality, with almost 800.000 annual overnights, is by far the most tourism-intensive municipality in

Macedonia.

The only other municipality with more than 100.000 annual overnights is Dojran (with Lake Dojran). All other municipalities had

less than 100.000 overnights in 2013. Part of the Top 10 are also Strumitsa, Krusehvo, Debar, Bitola, Mavrovo and Rostusha

and Resen. Tourism hubs (with accommodation facilities) mainly developed around the natural resources of Macedonia (lakes

and mountains) and in the larger cities of the country. According to official statistics, accommodation facilities only exist in 23

municipalities.

Annual overnights (in 000)

1

3

24

56

7

9

810

The municipalities of Skopje and Gevgelija increased their

overnights significantly between 2004 and 2013

9

Development of overnights

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

Top performer

Strong

performance

• Skopje (+95)

Change in overnights 2004 – 2013 (in 000)

Only those municipalities with registered overnights (according to the online database of State Statistical Office) in 2013 have

been included in the list.

• Gevgelija (+54)

• Krushevo (+28)

• Dojran (+17)

• Strumitsa (+24)

• Berovo (+13)

• Debar (+23)

Moderate

performance

• Shtip (+9)

• Veles (+7)

• Mavrovo and Rostusha (+6)

• Kumanovo (+2)

• Negotino (+8)

• Prilep (+6)

• Vinitsa (+3)

• Tetovo (+1)

• Kavadartsi (+7)

• Kichevo (+6)

• Kochani (+2)

• Gostivar (+-0)

Negative

performance

• Bitola (-3)

• Struga (-37)

• Ohrid (-10) • Resen (-32)

The Netherlands are currently the most important source

market for Macedonia, followed by Turkey and Greece

10

Inbound source markets

Source: State Stat is t ical Of f ice

* Compound Annual Growth Rate

The official statistics show, that approximately 880.000 overnights had been registered by foreigners in Macedonia in 2013. This

is only 41 % of all overnights, which implies that around 59 % (or 1,27 million overnights) were conducted by Macedonians.

This is a rather small figure compared to other emerging markets in the CEE region – the Czech Republic (19,4 million annual

overnights by foreigners), Hungary (10,4 million) and Bulgaria (12,5 million) for example show significantly higher annual figures.

Currently the number one source market for Macedonian tourism are the Netherlands with 127.000 overnights, followed by

Turkey (105.000) and the Greece (81.000). While the number of overnights by Dutch and Turkish visitors increased significantly

between 2009 and 2013, the number of overnights by people from the neighboring countries (Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia)

decreased over the same period of time.

Tourists (in 000) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 CAGR*

1. Netherlands 13 17 112 145 127 76,8 %

2. Turkey 33 36 65 81 105 33,6 %

3. Greece 38 43 78 73 81 20,8 %

4. Serbia 89 75 73 71 74 -4,5 %

5. Bulgaria 47 29 35 39 41 -3,4 %

6. Albania 48 43 36 35 41 -3,9 %

7. Germany 24 23 22 26 30 5,7 %

8. Poland 14 13 14 18 30 21,0 %

9. Slovenia 28 26 31 30 28 0 %

10. Kosovo - 25 24 23 28 n.a.

14% 12%

9%

8%

5%

5%

3%

3%3%3%

34%

Turkey

Poland

Netherlands

Slovenia

Kosovo

Other Albania

Greece

Serbia

Germany

Bulgaria

11

About Kohl & Partner

Kohl & Partner is an independent and

internationally operating consulting company,

specialized in the field of hotel and tourism

development.

Kohl & Partner is the leading tourism consulting

company in Austria, one of the most developed

tourism destinations in the world (with more than 132

million overnights per year). Outside Austria Kohl &

Partner established offices in eight other countries

and is therefore one of the biggest companies with this specialization in Europe. Clients of Kohl &

Partner range from famous tourism destinations, leading companies, public authorities to well-

known investors. Our tourism know-how, combined with more than 30 years of experience in

the field of tourism development gives us the ability to act as a reliable partner for the

development of international tourism projects.

Kohl & Partner means „quality in tourism“. The company is being developed and managed

according to the EFQM-Modell for Business Excellence and won the “Austrian Quality Award” (a

competition of the Austrian Ministry of Economics) for SMEs in Austria. Furthermore Kohl &

Partner is an affiliate member of the UN

World Tourism Organization and works in

accordance with international consulting

standards.

Beside the German speaking markets we

put a special focus on Central, Eastern

and South-eastern Europe. Currently we

have offices and local partners in nine

countries (Austria, Germany, Italy,

Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey,

Macedonia and Albania). In total more

than 40 professionals are employed at

Kohl & Partner.

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