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.

Bitola Looks to the Future, as Cameras Roll

September 29, 2008 • Comments Bulgaria

Last weekend I had the honor of participating in a conference in Bitola, Macedonia in which this lovely city's five-year tourism strategy was unveiled in front of an audience of local business folk and tourism providers, plus a few local officials and journalists. At the conference, I had the pleasure of speaking about my perceptions of tourism development, especially rural and historical tourism, and the points in which I expect emphasis to be made in the future.

Some of this will come no doubt from guidebooks (such as the upcoming Lonely Planet guide to the Western Balkans, which I have been working on), but it will also come from local initiatives and ideas. There is a lot of good stuff going on now and generally happy energy which is a nice change.

If you happen to be in this historic city this week, check out the Manaki Brothers Film Festival- named for the famous cinematographic local sons of that name, and the first filmmakers in the Balkans (1905). Although Bitolans grumble that party politics has led to the uprecedented step of having to 'share' the festival with Skopje this year, there is still plenty going on to warrant a visit.

This is the official film festival website. There's also some great things afoot with Bitola and expanding its involvement with the wide world of filmmaking but... we'll leave some things secret for now.