reportage
Travel Agencies “Drown” Again
Employing about 10 000 people in Macedonia, the tourism sector was hardly hit by the pandemic - travel agencies fear the future. But there’s still hope, and its name is summer and more help from the government. The sector doesn’t give up and waits for the open borders, the easement of restrictions, and financial aid to get back on track.
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ourism has been one of the most affected sectors during the covid-19 pandemic. “Our sector is a very specific one for this covid situation, and we are having a lot of problems: we don’t have work, and we can’t have plans for the next period”, confesses Amela Idrizi, from Best Travel in Skopje. Without sufficient help from the government, travel agencies also joined the hospitality sector protest in front of the Ministry of Finance on the 20th of April. Travel agencies have the largest share of the tourism-related companies in the country (28%), only matched by the hotels’ share of also 28%, according to a recent study on the effects on the private sector – tourism and hospitality in Macedonia. “As a country, you have to help the agencies now when they need it, and they will give you back”, urges Ana Marija Aleksova, owner of the travel agency Staff and representative of the sector on the public protest. 8 - VOICES
Especially at a time where people are not traveling nor planning to. “For the summer, the reservations are so low”, laments Idrizi. “We don’t have reservations”. Since Best Travel primarily works with outgoing tourism, closed borders and PCR test requirements affect the company. “We have destinations without PCR tests like Albania and individual, under-request destinations like Dubai, Maldives”, adds Idrizi but for the moment is not enough.
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I just hope the borders will open and everything returns to normal - if not, everything will go to Hell.
Elena Stepanoska Office manager at JK Travel
The only hope is the summer. “We are still trying to save the summer, but it’s tough because we still don’t know if everything will be fine with the borders opening, the flights…”, shares Elena Stepanoska, office manager of one of the JK Travel offices in Skopje. The agency is working on some destinations like Turkey, Greece, and Albania, but the reservations are still low. “In Albania, this [PCR test] is not a problem - they make reservations, at the moment, and the sales are going but not very good because we have the police hours and people are not very interested in traveling”, explains Stepanoska. “I hope, after this, the sales will start.” The Maldives and Dubai are also prominent destinations, but there is a requirement for PCR tests. “We can see that only richer people can afford them, but they are not very interested, at the moment”, says Stepanoska, mentioning a Bulgarian company they cooperate
