Dutch tour operators in three day visit to Macedonia

Macedonia is a country with as much as 300 sunny days, its nature is breathtaking, however those how have already visited the country are in love with the people.

Their hospitality is especially evident with Dutch tourists who are considered friends by many Macedonians. I hope that in the coming three days you will feel these emotions. Macedonia is easy to love, and it is very difficult to leave the country, Dutch ambassador Marriet Schuurman told nearly a hundred representatives of travel organisations and tour operators from the Netherlands upon arriving in Ohrid on Friday.

Schuurman encouraged the Dutch tourism officials, led by CEO of TUI tour operator Steven van der Heijden, to establish as many contacts as possible during their stay in Macedonia in order to invest and seek ways for cooperation with the local business community.

Van der Heijden in his brief speech said that the first impressions from the warm welcome have been more than promising.

"Most of us are here in Macedonia for the first time, but taking into consideration the fact how this visit is being planned by our associated in Macedonia and the local self-government, I think that it is very promising," he stressed.

The sale of arrangements for vacationing in Ohrid has been recording an upward trend in the Netherlands by 40%, it has been said.

According to data by the two largest tour operators that promote Macedonia as a tourist destination, more than 25 thousand arrangements are expected to be sold in Benelux countries this year and the number of charter flights carrying Dutch tourists to Macedonia to be increased. At the moment, four planes by TUI and three by Corendon land every week in Ohrid.

For three seasons in a row, tourists from Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) are the most frequent foreign visitors in Ohrid and Macedonia.

Foreign tourists satisfied with their stay in Ohrid

Ohrid lake at Kaneo.

Foreign tourists are content with their stay in Ohrid, show results of a survey conducted by the Sector for Tourism and Local Economic Development of the Municipality of Ohrid.

The survey was carried out between August 15 and September 10 through open and anonymous questionnaires, which were distributed to hotels on the Ohrid riviera.

Guests who stayed in hotels 'Tino', 'Millennium', 'Garden', 'Inex', 'Belvedere', 'Granit', 'Sileks', 'Metropol', 'Bellevue', 'Desaret' and 'Makpetrol' - most of them from the Netherlands, Belgium and Serbia - praised the hospitality of Macedonian hosts and the attractiveness of the offer, pointing out several shortcomings and presenting their own suggestions.

The survey aims at probing guests' opinion and analysing their remarks in a bid to improve next year's tourist season.

Dutch Tourists Arriving in Ohrid

The first group of 120 tourists from the Netherlands using arrangements of tour-operator "Arke Travel -TUI", arrived in Ohrid on Friday.

A formal event was held at Ohrid-based airport "St. Paul the Apostle", with Economy Minister Valon Saraqini and Netherlands Ambassador to Macedonia Marriet Schuurman greeting the Dutch tourists.

Minister Saraqini wished the guests a warm welcome, saying they should acquaint with Macedonia as much as possible during their stay and convey their impressions to friends at home.

Saraqini told reporters efforts would be implemented this year towards increasing the number of foreign tourists in Macedonia.

"Besides lowering the VAT for tourism services, we have adopted a new rulebook on categorization of capacities, which would significantly improve services offered by hotels. Another measure for attraction of tourists is the subsidizing of low-cost airlines with EUR 4,9 million allocated for the next three years", said the Economy Minister.

According to expectations, nine flights carrying foreign tourists are to land at the Ohrid airport every week.

"Taking into account information we have from tour-operators, we expect about 700 tourists per day from the Benelux countries only. Over 14,000 tourists are expected from the Netherlands this year", emphasized Saraqini while thanking the Dutch Embassy for successful promotion of Macedonia as an attractive tourism destination.

Ambassador Schuurman recalled that such charter flights brought 22,000 Dutch guests to Macedonia last year.

"We are convinced that more tourists will come from the Netherlands this year. I know that Dutch tourists like Macedonia very much, which has been confirmed by the fact that many who came last year are planning to spend their holidays here again this summer", underlined Schuurman.

Warm welcome for ArkeFly and tourists from The Netherlands

The first group of tourists from The Netherlands arrived at Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport, marking the beginning of the tourist season. The guests were welcomed by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, HE Marriet Schuurman, the Minister of Economy, Mr. Valon Saraqini and the General Manager of TAV Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Krstevski. The welcoming ceremony was organised by TAV Macedonia and the local TUI operator. According to the Macedonian tradition, the guests were offered bread and salt, but also cake and champagne.

Tourist offer for Germans

Representatives of six travel agencies from Germany stayed in Macedonia in the past four days so that they could see its beauties, cultural-historic wealth and the entire tourist offer of the country. The first contact with these travel agencies was realised in the biggest fair for group travels, which was held in Köln in August, and in which 4 travel agencies from Macedonia participated. The visit of German travel agencies is a part of the project of opening the Western European market for group travels for travel agencies in the Balkans. Website www.balkan-schaetze.com was formed in connection to the project and it presents the wealth of the Balkans.

Town of Dojran has its best Tourist season

Dojran beach.

During the summer tourist season, 135,000 overnight stays were realised in Dojran, which is 12.5 percent more than last year. With incomes that range from EUR 2m for overnight stays to EUR 3m, which includes service activities and entertainment, tourism has remained a dominant economic branch of this Municipality.
Furthermore, according to representatives of the Municipality, the biggest part of the income was collected by hotel capacities in Stari and Novi Dojran and 180 registered lessors of private weekend houses. Representatives added that 10 percent of the mentioned tourist income arrived to the municipal budget, which is more than expected.