Tour operators in Ohrid and Struga report a significant decline in organized groups, which had been visiting these cities from May to October for more than ten years. According to them, the lack of tourists arriving through organized packages is affecting the entire sector.
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Jakim Malenko, a tourism worker, says that of the four or five operators that organized charter flights to Ohrid, only one remains. “We lost the major tour operators that arrived by charter with tourists who came directly for seven or 14 days, staying in hotels and, in some cases, in private accommodation. We lost the Poles, and the Dutch are not coming,” Malenko said.
Workers in the sector consider this one of the weakest seasons so far. In addition to the withdrawal of several foreign operators, they cite regional competition, low-cost flights to various European destinations and global developments as contributing factors.
According to Malenko, Ohrid is attracting mainly individual visitors, who use the city as a starting point for exploring other places as well. “They very often use this destination, our city, as a springboard for making a wider circuit, and to benefit from and see as much as possible. We need to think carefully about how to bring back those charter flights, which were intended solely for tourists and the organized transportation of guests,” he stressed.
August marked the most favorable period, when demand for accommodation was highest. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the season, in June and July, hotels had a minimum occupancy rate of 40 percent./Alsat/
