Anti-pandemic measures in their home countries deter EU tourists from visiting North Macedonia · Global Voices
A beach in Ljubanishte, Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia on July 24, 2020. Photo by <PERSON>, CC BY.
North Macedonia has opened its borders to tourists from the European Union (EU) and other European countries, but measures related to COVID-19 prevention are discouraging visitors from choosing the country as a travel destination.
A big factor is that some EU countries, Hungary for example, require their citizens returning from North Macedonia to spend two weeks in self-isolation upon arriving home. Germany requires travelers returning from 130 countries designated as risky to conduct mandatory diagnostic tests. These rules vary from country to country and the EU has set up a website Re-Open EU to keep track of them all.
North Macedonia has been praised by WHO for its high level of transparency in reporting COVID-19 cases. In a population of about two million, the country has recorded 10.617 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, with 480 deaths so far. In recent weeks, the number of new cases has ranged between 100–200 daily.
Tour operators bringing foreign tourists into North Macedonia must conform to local anti-pandemic regulations, starting with the requirement that buses must provide physical distancing for passengers, with a limit of 50 percent of bus seats occupied. So, each full tour bus coming from Poland, for example, must be met by an empty local bus right after crossing the border, and half of the passengers must transfer to the local bus to continue the journey. Renting extra vehicles increases the overall price of the arrangement, making it less appealing to tour operators.
So, unlike in previous years, most foreign tourists visiting the country's prime tourist destination—the Lake Ohrid area—are those whose main destination is Albania, which has been much more open to visitors, and which, consequently, has a better financial outlook this tourist season. Some EU visitors to the Albanian coastline, however, do make day trips into the scenic UNESCO-protected region in North Macedonia, including the old town of Ohrid and surrounding natural beauty spots.
<PERSON>, a tourist guide with Experience Balkan, explains the current hardships:
<PERSON>, tourist guide from Ohrid. 739
Photo by <PERSON>, CC BY.
“I work with an incoming agency and as an authorized tourist guide; I haven’t earned any money since New Year. I share these difficulties with about 5,000 people like me who are in this sector. This season is certainly over and we are focusing on 2021, but what shall we do till then? Lately, I have been trying to rent my boat on Lake Ohrid, but the domestic tourists cannot afford it, and I still hope that some individual travelers or smaller groups will come to Ohrid, so that I can be of service to them for touring the area or renting my boat. And I am very much sure that the travelers will remember the beauty of the Ohrid region and will go back to their countries with pleasant memories and revelations of new destinations.”
The country has instituted pandemic-related protocols to protect visitors and tourism workers. The beaches, which are mostly leased by private operators, must provide physical distance between sunbeds; bars and restaurants may sit only four persons at a table, and waiters and other workers all have to wear face masks and institute other prevention measures.
The Lake Ohrid area features a number of attractions, including some that are accessible only by boat, such as so-called “wild beaches” under the cliffs of the Galichica National Park.
The beachfront of Lake Ohrid, where waters touch the front yards of 19th-century homes at the core of the Old Town, which is crowned by a citadel dating from the early 11th century. Photo by <PERSON>, CC BY.
Meanwhile, citizens of North Macedonia face closed borders, except with neighboring Albania and Serbia. They are not allowed to visit Greece or Montenegro, while in order to enter Bulgaria or Croatia, where the sea is much farther away, they must show negative results of recent PCR tests at the border. For Croatia, they also have to show proof of booking arrangements.
For that reason, the tourist sites get many domestic visitors, especially during the weekends, when cities empty and lakes or mountain resorts get somewhat overwhelmed with visitors and garbage (and where a local initiative is trying to counter the littering of Ohrid beaches through voluntary cleaning actions).
Domestic visitors often use their own weekend houses or low budget rented rooms instead of hotels, and, therefore, bring in much lower profits. They also buy fewer souvenirs, and are much less interested in guided tours explaining the cultural or other aspects of the country's heritage because most of them have already experienced the sights or feel they know all the information they might get from paid guides. 739