Projecting Accommodation Capacities in Macedonia

Creating an adequate tourism supply which will meet the demand is a challenge for every country that seeks a planned tourism development. Tourism infrastructure is an essential part of the tourism supply and must be projected based on a detailed analysis of the tourism demand. This paper deals with the measures and activities for enhancing the competitiveness of tourism in Macedonia. The recommendations given in the paper stemmed from the analysis which is structured in two parts. The first part is built on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum in order to assess the competitiveness of Macedonian tourism sector. The second part of the paper is dedicated to a projection of accommodation capacities, measured by the number of hotel beds and hotel rooms in Macedonia. In that respect, their optimal number is estimated by employing the standard formulas. The results point to a significant over dimension of current hotel supply in Macedonia: the current number of hotel beds is 1.5-2 times bigger than the projected optimal needs, while the estimations regarding the number of hotel rooms imply an over dimension of 1.5 times

Заштита на животната средина и енергетската ефикасност во хотелската индустрија

Хотелите спаѓаат во групата објекти кои се едни од најголемите потрошувачи на енергија што резултира со големи оперативни трошоци во секојдневното работење. Тие спаѓаат во првите пет категории потрошувачи на електрична енергија во терцијарниот сектор (помалку само од услугите за храна, продажбата, здравствената заштита и останати канцелариски услуги) (Hotel Energy Solutions, 2011). Тоа зборува за постоење нераскинлива врска помеѓу хотелската индустрија и можноста за нејзин развој од една страна, и енергетската ефикасност, од друга страна. Оттука, главен приоритет на менаџментот на хотелите е голем дел од своите активности да ги фокусира кон намалување на оперативните трошоци, првенствено преку воведување методи за зголемување на енергетската ефикасност вклучително и воведување обновливи извори на енергија. Така, би се заштитила животната средина, но и хотелите би станале објекти кои се еколошки поприфатливи. Имајќи предвид дека чиста и заштитена средина е еден од основните предуслови за добра хотелска понуда, јасно произлегува зависноста на развојот на хотелската индустрија од природата. Ова истражување настојува да ги исполни следните поединечни цели: 1) Да укаже на значењето на концептот на енергетска ефикасност применет во хотелската индустрија; 2) Да го анализира степенот на примена на концептот на енергетска ефикасност во хотелот „Фламинго“ - Гевгелија; и 3) Да даде значајни препораки за намалување на оперативните трошоци на работењето на хотелите преку заштеда на енергија и примена на нови, алтернативни извори на енергија. Во насока на остварување на зацртаните цели, трудот методолошки е структуриран во неколку делови. По воведот, следи вториот дел кој дава осврт на теоријата која ја обработува проблематиката за заштита на животната средина и концептот на енергетска ефикасност, како и придобивките од тоа за развој на хотелската индустрија. Во третиот дел е даден осврт на хотелската индустрија во Македонија при што е даден краток опис на хотелот „Фламинго“ од Гевгелија, како избран случај за анализа, и неговата позиција во рамки на хотелската индустрија во Македонија. Во четвртиот дел е објаснета применетата истражувачка методологија, додека петтиот дел ги содржи анализата и интерпретацијата на резултатите од истражувањето. Заклучоците и препораките се презентирани во шестиот дел, додека идните насоки за подобрување на истражувањето се прикажани во седмиот, кој е воедно последен дел од трудот. Генерално, придонесот на ова истражување е трикратно: (1) Овозможува да се добијат продлабочени сознанија за примена на концептот за заштита на животната средина и енергетската ефикасност во хотелите во Македонија, при што се наведени одредени нови предизвици кои нужно мора да се воведат во управувањето со хотелите; (2) Презентирани се сознанија за работењето на хотелот „Фламинго“ од Гевгелија, кој како добро позициониран хотел со пет ѕвезди, може да служи како пример на останатите хотели во Македонија во однос на користењето енергија во секојдневното работење; и (3) Се збогатува скромната литература од оваа проблематика во Македонија, со одредени исклучоци (Cingoski et al, 2015; Petrevska & Cingoski, 2015 and 2016; Petrevska et al, 2016)

Tourism contribution to regional development: best practice in Macedonia

As one of the greatest sources for development, tourism is detected by many undeveloped and developing countries as the only way-out for economic prosperity. This research aims to investigate tourism contribution to regional development in Macedonia, highlighting the South-West region as the best practice. In particular, the paper makes an attempt to explore and compare eight planning regions from tourism prospective, pointing to the best one according to up-to-date results. For this purpose, it reports on analyses based on stylized facts obtained from secondary data spreading over a sample period from 2004-2011. The outcomes point to the fact that the South-West region is the leading statistical region in Macedonia when referring tourism and regional development issues. So, the paper strongly recommends this empirical evidence as good example for boosting regional development through tourism application. Furthermore, it urges the need for identifying effective framework for mitigating modest results and creating sound public policies. Additionally, the contribution of this paper lies in the fact that it enriches the poorly-developed empirical academic work within this scientific area in Macedonia

Assessing access to finance for tourism development: entrepreneurial approach

Macedonia is a small open economy that is challenged by various policies and measures in the line of enhancing its competitiveness. Being focused on becoming a recognizable country with favorable business climate, Macedonia is faced with numerous and complex limiting factors. This paper intends to assess the access to finance as one of the most profound causes that inhibits tourism development. The paper elaborates the case of Krusevo, as one of the most developed winter tourism centers in Macedonia. The objective is to identify the major problems caused by lack of access to finance for further tourism development, by employing the entrepreneurial approach. A survey is conducted among managers/owners and employees of travel agencies and tourism service facilities as the main representatives of tourism supply side. The overall conclusion is that the destination is faced with serious obstacles in terms of providing finance for tourism development

Entrepreneurship and financing: The evidence of Macedonia

There is an absence of general platform to define the entrepreneurship. Yet, it is a common sense that it presents a concept which is closely related to financial risks. In this line, the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are still experiencing considerable difficulties in sustaining their importance for economic development. The paper describes the sources of financial support to the SMEs in Macedonia, and simultaneously identifies the most applied sources of financing. Moreover, it elaborates the importance of the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion (MBDP) in providing financial support in terms of financing start-ups, providing medium and long-term loans to SMEs, financing exports, extending export credit insurance, and the management and implementation of international credit lines. The analyzed data set covers the period 1999-2013. The main findings reveal that the MBDP has a substantial role in development of entrepreneurship in general in Macedonia

Managing investment conditions: The case of Macedonia

Abstract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are one of the fundamentals that enables and accelerates economic development of a national economy. Therefore, each national economy must layout preconditions that will enable attracting of foreign capital. Among other things, an adequate legislation considering the FDI’s is a prerequisite. Hence, the governmental role and policies towards FDI issues may have significant influence on improving the investment climate. The purpose of this paper is to present the manner and scope to which the governmental policies approach this crucial issue. For this purpose, the first goal is to look upon legislative aspects for attracting FDI in Macedonia. The second one is to explore the institutional mechanisms that present coordinates and determinants of the framework for doing business. Simultaneously, the research subject is legislative that regulate this area, as well as some other legal aspects, as: the laws related to the foreign trade, fiscal sector, institutional frame, foreign exchange operations, the area of labor relations, etc. The research results lead to conclusion that the legislation framework, as significant factor of national business environment, provides opportunities for FDI enhancement in Macedonia. Although significant results have been achieved so far, particularly in the last decade, still, there is a need for further improvement of current legislation. Keywords: Foreign direct investments; Foreign capital; Legislation; Business; Macedonia. JEL Classification: G2

Web-based platform for enhancing tourism development: An exploratory study

The aim of this research is to investigate possibilities for supporting tourism development by employing the Web as the leading source of information particularly important in times of increased number of competitors in tourism market. For this purpose, the paper argues the importance of creating personalized recommending system as a way out in meeting ever-changing tourists’ preferences towards different aspects of tourism. So, the research makes an attempt to justify the necessity of designing a web-based tourism portal in order to assist tourists in identification of their ideal holiday through a recommender. The results of this empirical evidence point that the proposed approach provide satisfactory performance since it reports on positive experience as well as accurate recommendations and guidelines. So, the development of such software module being organized as on-line social network (OSN) contributes generally in increasing the awareness for tourist destination, thus boosting tourism development. It assists all interested parties in planning their travel on more intelligent way by generating a personalized list of favorable and tailor-made items. Finally, the research strongly alarms relevant tourism-actors that the time has changed and that on-line experience has shifted from searching and consuming to creating, connecting and exchanging

Planning and Forecasting Tourism Demand in Macedonia

Having in mind that the concept of tourism planning could not be applied if forecasting of tourism demand is neglected, the paper underlines the importance of application of forecasting methods in projection of future tourism trends. In that respect, two quantitative methods were used: (1) the method of exponential smoothing, through two of its variants: Double Exponential Smoothing and the Holt-Winters; (2) the Box-Jenkins methodology, through several alternative specifications. The result of the research is a medium-run estimation of foreign tourism demand for Macedonian destinations by the end of 2014. In order to define which of the implemented models is the most accurate in forecasting tourism demand in Macedonia, the forecasts are evaluated by several standard indicators. Despite the fact that all applied methods are not capable of explaining the driving factors behind the results, the estimated values can serve as a base of identifying measures and activities necessary for creating comprehensive tourism policy

Accommodation Capacities in Macedonia as a Factor for Competitive Tourism Supply

Creating an adequate tourism supply which will meet the demand is a challenge for every country that seeks a planned tourism development. Tourism infrastructure is an essential part of the tourism supply and must be projected on a thorough analysis of the tourism demand. This paper argues the necessity of initiating measures and activities for enhancing tourism competitiveness in Macedonia. The recommendations stemmed from detailed calculations as a base for analyzing accommodation capacities, measured by the number of hotel beds and hotel rooms in Macedonia for the period 1990-2010. In that respect, their optimal number is estimated by employing the standard formulas. The results pointed to a significant over dimension of current hotel accommodation supply in Macedonia. Key words: Tourism; Accommodation capacities; Competitiveness; Macedonia

Coping with seasonality: Exploratory study of tourism in Ohrid

Seasonality has been identified as one of the most important influencing factors in tourism development. The presence of seasonality is empirically tested in this study by elaborating on Ohrid as the most well-known summer tourism destination in North Macedonia. Standard indicators such as the Gini index, the Seasonality Indicator, and the Coefficient of Variation are computed. The calculated values for two variables, the total number of tourists and the number of foreign tourists that visited Ohrid on a monthly basis from 2000 to 2021, are compared in depth. When the overall number of tourists was investigated, the study found considerable and strong fluctuations within a year with important features and the presence of robust tourism seasonality. On the other hand, international tourism demand is quite stable, with only minor fluctuations over the course of a year, indicating a weak tourism concentration. Based on an in-depth comparative analysis, Ohrid is a 'four-season' attraction for foreigners but not for domestic visitors. As a result, the study outlines the importance of establishing new strategies for attracting domestic tourists, thus shifting their perception from summer to an innovative destination. Finally, a discussion is open for creating a new image to reposition Ohrid as an overall destination with no seasonality