About The Christopher Deliso Blog

This blog celebrates the singularities and unexpected revelations of the Balkans. That is on the good days. Other times there is just news from the 'industry' and my opinions on it.

Macedonia's Village Tourism

July 03, 2008 • Comments Bulgaria

Balkan Travellers recently carried a short story on plans to develop rural tourism in Macedonia. I have had discussions with m,any people about this recently here in Skopje.

The feeling is that there are many different small projects going on, but no real organization or overarching national strategy yet. The new Tourism Chamber of Macedonia will hopefully help in this regard, but it will largely depend on the willingness of local business and governmental figures to share their knowledge and cooperate. And promotion and marketing are key, though many - and especially those in relevant rural areas - are unaware of this.

There are several key areas for rural tourism to take off in in the future. I plan to visit some soon as part of my research for the upcoming Lonely Planet Western Balkans guidebook. I am sure there will be a lot to share with the readers in a few weeks!