Tourism in Macedonia

[Crn Volk]

World Paragliders go nuts after Macedonia
Sunday, 05 August 2012

World's best paragliders are meeting in Krusevo for the 2012 world cup in paragliding. The participants are loving every second of their stay, here is how the Paragliding Federation describes Macedonia...

"MACEDONIA - that unforgettable name evoking images of ancient, great civilizations and exotic adventure - is also a warm and welcoming modern-day republic.

A small and beautiful country nestled in the southeast of Europe, Macedonia offers its visitors a unique blend of natural wonders, traditions and cultures as well as a long tradition of unrivalled hospitality.

From their savoury cuisine to their love of music, dance and general merrymaking, Macedonians know how to make their guests feel at home. Combining these qualities with the country’s dramatic mountains and canyons, its deep lakes and rivers, Macedonia has something for everyone.

Macedonia is a predominantly mountainous country. The average altitude of the terrain is 850 meters. Highest peak is Golem Korab in Western Macedonia 2764m ASL. About 80% of the country consists of hills and mountains. Lucky them!"

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/21590/45/

[Crn Volk]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/insi...on=uaebusiness

Flydubai reaches 50th destination
Abdul Basit / 23 October 2012

Flydubai’s inaugural flight touched down at 50th destination on Monday when it landed in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, marking the low-cost carrier’s 15th passenger route in Central & Eastern Europe.

Flydubai’s chief executive officer Ghaith Al Ghaith and journalists from Gulf countries were greeted by the Minister for Transport and Communication Mile Janakieski and the chief operating officer of TAV Holding Murat Ornekol, following a water canon salute on touchdown.

This is the first direct connection of any Gulf-based airline to Macedonia. Top officials from both the sides said this connection will help promote trade and tourism between both the countries and respective regions.

The trade volume between the UAE and Macedonia recorded a drastic jump of 80 per cent last year, compared to the previous year, according to the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Trade.

“Initially, there are two weekly flights from Dubai to Skopje and if we see the demand we will make it three in a week,” Al Ghaith told Khaleej Times after the news conference.

He said through this new flight flydubai is opening new route for the people of Macedonia to come and see Dubai’s hospitality and also get access to other countries as the Dubai provides connections to more than 150 destinations. On the other side people from the UAE and other Gulf countries also have an affordable connection to see this beautify country, he added.

“More than 40 per cent of our route development this year has taken place in Central and Eastern Europe and with the addition of Skopje, we are connecting the UAE to another underserved market. This illustrates our commitment to this region, while also opening up opportunities for cooperation and collaboration with different nations,” he said.

Flights to Skopje operate twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays and return fares from Dubai to Skopje start at Dh2,380 all inclusive even checked baggage.

“Low-cost airlines such as flydubai offer passengers affordable travel options and the regions in which they operate often experience rapid economic development. The inclusion of Skopje as a destination into flydubai’s network has great significance as these flights will not only connect Skopje to Dubai, but indirectly to more than 50 destinations around the world where the airline operates and beyond,” the minister said.

TAV Holding chief operating officer said: “The launch of flights between Skopje and Dubai will have a positive effect on the Macedonian diaspora living in Australia. The time on board and number of connecting flights to different airports will dramatically decrease and Macedonians living in Australia will be able to arrive in Skopje faster and easier. With this launch Macedonian citizens and those of neighbouring countries will be able to fly directly to the UAE from Skopje’s Alexander the Great Airport.”

Skopje is the second addition to flydubai’s CIS and Central & Eastern European network this month, following the start of flights to Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, on 1 October 2012. The airline now serves 15 destinations including: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and from Monday, the Republic of Macedonia.

[dralos]

i would love to visit disneyshkupi,se all those statues who represents all the money that has been waisted

[Crn Volk]

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/22090/45/

15.000 arrangements for Macedonia sold to Austrian tourists

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Fifteen thousand travel arrangements and eight Vienna-Ohrid charter flights have been sold for next spring.



"MacSun-Travel" - an Austrian/Macedonian travel agency - announced the figures to the Macedonian ambassador to Austria, Gjorgi Filipov at a Vienna fair of tour operators, where Macedonia presented its tourist potentials.

The arrangements sold for the spring of 2013 are three times more than the arrangements realised this year.



Macedonia is also included in the catalogues of the Austrian company "KLUG touristik GmbH". Its owner has told the ambassador that the decision to offer Macedonia as a tourist destination had been made following the interest of Austrian tourists and the positive experiences cooperating with "MacSun Travel".

The event was intended solely for business partners, tour operators and hotel managers.

http://www.macsun-travel.net/

[Crn Volk]

Skopje, Macedonia: a cultural city guide


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ar...ity-guide.html

[Crn Volk]

Skopje, Macedonia: Kitsch capital of the Balkans

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/1...ch-or-history/



SKOPJE, Macedonia – Winston Churchill is flashing his trademark victory sign from the rooftop of Macedonia's shining white new foreign ministry building.
Alexander the Great is pointing his mighty sword from the top of a mega water fountain that airs classical music on the hour, as sprinkling water dances to the sound of its tunes.

Alexander's father, Philip II, is standing firmly on a tall marble pedestal, his fist lifted toward the sky, surrounded by drab communist-style apartment blocks and garbage littering the streets of Macedonia's capital.

All those grandiose buildings, monuments, fountains and bridges — some completed, others under construction — are dotting the city center as part of a government project called Skopje 2014, officially intended to rebuild a city that lost many of its landmarks in a 1963 earthquake.

One of Europe's biggest urban endeavors has been criticized by many Macedonians who describe it as kitsch aimed at distracting the general public from the small Balkan country's problems — such as a devastated economy and unemployment that hovers around 30 percent.

The project which started in 2008 generated controversy for the construction costs of some 20 new buildings and as many as 40 monuments — estimated to range between €80 million ($104 million) to €500 million ($650 million) depending on the government or unofficial figures.

It has also split local residents, some saying the money could have been spent more wisely on the construction of new apartment buildings, factories or roads, and others claiming the project is a matter of national pride.
"They shouldn't have built so many monuments in such a short period of time," said Dimitrije Markozanski, a painter. "It should have been done more gradually. I am a painter by profession, and we like this, but it does feel a bit cluttered. But you can't join the European Union with a small town mentality. This city should be a metropolis."

The tension over the venture reached its height in March 2009 when a group of Skopje's architecture university students tried to protest peacefully against the project, and were beaten by nationalist party activists in the presence of the police and media.

The centerpiece of the construction bonanza is the 28-meter (92-foot) tall bronze equestrian colossus called "Warrior on a Horse" — a monument that bears an uncanny resemblance to Alexander the Great, the ancient hero of Greece.

Officials were careful not to name it outright after Alexander the Great because Macedonia and Greece have been locked in a 21-year dispute over the right to claim the region's ancient heritage. Greece says its northern neighbor is falsely laying claim to its name, history and ancient heritage and has blocked Macedonia's accession to the European Union and NATO.
Macedonians, however, claim they have the same right as Greeks to call themselves descendants of Alexander, arguing that Macedonia in ancient times was one geographical territory, and its heroes now belong to everyone living in the separate states.

One of the main symbols of the project is Porta Macedonia, a triumphal arch situated near the main Macedonia square. The 21-meter-tall (70 foot) arch is meant to commemorate the long struggle for Macedonian independence — the country became independent of Yugoslavia in 1991 — and 32 reliefs carved on the outside depict events from centuries of earlier history and struggles.

Among the many monumental buildings under construction on the banks of the Vardar river dividing the city are a new archaeology museum, a dome-shaped cylindrical financial police headquarters and communications ministry — all in different neo-classical and baroque styles. The new ornate foreign ministry building has dozens of statues of late foreign dignitaries standing on its roof edge, including Churchill and American presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Two pedestrian bridges over the river, a dozen meters (yards) between each other, are being completed. One is the Art Bridge that includes 29 bronze sculptures of known Macedonian painters, writers, composers and musicians.
Besides Alexander the Great, his father, Philip II, and his mother, Olimpias of Epirus, monuments of other notable historical figures linked to Macedonian history are newly present in the city of some 470,000 people, including Mother Teresa, the late Nobel Prize winner for her Catholic charity work who was born in Skopje.

"People are a bit surprised and it takes time to get used to this," said Ljupco Licovski, a retired doctor, as he walked over the Macedonia square. "The economic situation is not very good, so this does stick out in people's minds.

[Crn Volk]

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/22758/45/

Macedonia promoted at Tourism fair in Italy
Wednesday, 20 February 2013



As part of the planned fair presentations in 2013, the Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism promoted Macedonia at this year's BIT tourism fair, held on Feb. 14-17 in Milan, Italy.



Macedonia's tourism potentials were presented before tour operators and journalists from Italy as well as before potential tourists, featuring tasting of traditional Macedonian wine and food, the agency said on Tuesday.



The presentation was opened by Macedonia's consul general to Italy, Amon Bajramovski, who said in his speech that the countries' positive relations and excellent diplomatic, economic and political ties laid a foundation to expand the collaboration in the field of tourism.

Over 2,000 exhibitors from more than 120 countries promoted their tourism potentials at the four-day fair in Milan. Macedonia participated in the event for the first time

[Crn Volk]

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/23306/45/

Tourists from Greece with most visits to Macedonia
Monday, 13 May 2013

According to the data of the State Statistical Office, the number of tourists visiting Macedonia in March 2013 was at 34.495, while overnight stay at 73.241.

The State Statistical Office says a total of 5.019 Greek tourists visited Macedonia in March, followed by guests from Serbia - 2.615 and Turkey - 2.578. The country's capital Skopje welcomed a total of 11.158 tourists.

The number of tourists in March 2013, compared to same period last year, is higher for 7.5%, and of overnight stay for 10.2%.

The number of domestic tourists in March 2013, compared to last March, decreased by 8.8%, while the number of foreign ones increased by 18.4%.

The number of nights spent by domestic tourists in March 2013 decreased by 4.5%, whereas the number of overnight stay by foreign tourists increased by 22.6%.

The number of tourists in the period January - March 2013, compared to the same period last year, increased by 2.8%. The number of domestic ones decreased by 1.5%, while that of foreign tourists increased by 5.9%.


The number of nights spent in the period January - March 2013, compared to the same period last year, increased by 4.3%. The number of nights spent by domestic tourists increased by 1.4%, while those by foreign ones increased by 6.9%.

[Alexq]

i would love to visit disneyshkupi,se all those statues who represents all the money that has been waisted

thats the whole point everybody is like you, first laugh about skopje, then actually coming to see it personally (toursim boost)

[Petros Houhoulis]

thats the whole point everybody is like you, first laugh about skopje, then actually coming to see it personally (toursim boost)

Really? Can you show us the real number of visitors and visits, and how much it has been boosted since the abominations you created? Just to have a laugh at you, because it seems to me that the Serbs' beer festivals are more popular... And you find more pussy too...