The foreign visitors are most displeased by the road network and the cleanliness of the public spaces in North Macedonia. This is the overall response by most of the guests from abroad that were queried last year at the country’s border crossings. They gave the highest score for people’s friendliness and to the archaeological and historical resources of North Macedonia.
These are the findings of the survey of foreign visitors conducted at the border crossings by the State Statistical Bureau (SSB). According to them, the average score of the services for foreign visitors during 2019 is 4.16, people’s behavior was scored 4.53, archaeological and historical resources got 4.51, natural environment 4.41, restaurants 4.37, airport services 4.32, fun and nightlife were scored 4.25, security and health services 4.19, and the cleanliness in public places and road network were ranked lowest, 3.71 and 3.64.
Most of the surveyed foreigners at the border crossings were only transiting the country i.e. 44.4% of the people that answered, while 36% have arrived for a stay, and 19.6% have arrived on a one day visit. Over 40% of those transiting were people aged between 36 and 42 while one-day visits were done mostly by visitors aged between 36 and 42 i.e. 30%.
Apart from the survey conducted at the border crossings, the State Statistics Bureau has querieed foreign tourists that have visited any of the accommodation facilities in Macedonia during 2019. The tourists’ impressions are identical. The average score they would give to those facilities is 4.48. Still, the road network was ranked below the average score by the foreign tourists, or 3.23. The cleanliness of the beaches and the lakes was scored 3.78 and the cleanliness of public spaces and the facilities at the beaches were scored 3.82. The airport services scored 3.96.
Both surveys conducted by the State Statistics Bureau arrive at the moment when North Macedonia is facing an enormous decrease in foreign visitors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, last year, North Macedonia had a record visit of 1.184.963 tourists out of which 757.593 were from abroad.
