Search

There is an absence of general platform to define the entrepreneurship. Yet, it is a common sense that it presents a concept which is closely related to financial risks. In this line, the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are still experiencing considerable difficulties in sustaining their importance for economic development. The paper describes the sources of financial support to the SMEs in Macedonia, and simultaneously identifies the most applied sources of financing. Moreover, it elaborates the importance of the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion (MBDP) in providing financial support in terms of financing start-ups, providing medium and long-term loans to SMEs, financing exports, extending export credit insurance, and the management and implementation of international credit lines. The analyzed data set covers the period 1999-2013. The main findings reveal that the MBDP has a substantial role in development of entrepreneurship in general in Macedonia.

The paper clarifies tourism influence on the regional development of Macedonia in terms of basic economic parameters and tourism indicators. It gives an overview of tourism importance as a source of the economic development in the East region of Macedonia. A comparative analysis is given of the East region with other statistical regions from economic perspective. In this line, different types of statistical tests (Levene, Bonferroni and Tamhane tests) are applied. They are based on the available sources of secondary data addressing GDP and tourism flows (arrivals and overnight stays). The aim of the paper is to determine the influence of the East region by calculating the presence of significant differences between its average values of the variables compared to other regions. Finally, the paper gives recommendations for further development of the region in tourism manner, mainly by boosting the event tourism development.

The paper has two aims. The first is theoretical and calls for examining key issues, arguments and conceptualizations in the scholarship on cultural tourism in order to better understand its transformation in the digital age. The study characterizes the changes that have taken place in cultural tourism research by reviewing both literature and case studies on the subject and analyzing the concepts that have been added or modified in the ongoing research. The second aim of the paper is to offer recommendations for development of cultural tourism in the digital era. The main research findings indicate a shift to a postmodern approach, particularly with regard to the increasingly obfuscated boundaries between different tourism types. Another change currently underway is the shift in focus from creating a “product” to creating an “experience”. The change in the theoretical foundation has involved the elimination of distinctions that were accepted in the past and a growing inability to distinguish between different conceptualizations and fields of research, which are now being integrated. Finally, the recommendations focus on three levels: where we are today, where we want to be tomorrow, and how we plan to get there.

Целта на овој труд е да даде преглед на туристичкото законодавство во Македонија како дел од мерките и инструментите кои најчесто се преземаат при водењето туристичка политика. Поконкретно, трудот дава осврт на дел од правните прописи со кои се регулира развојот на туризмот и угостителството во Македонија, притоа осврнувајќи се на директната и специфичната регулатива. Заклучено е дека државата, независно дали води активна или пасивна улога, е најзначајниот носител на планирањето на туристичкиот развој, а со тоа и управувач на целокупниот економски раст и развој. Истовремено дадени се препораки за креирање рамнотежен и интегриран пристап помеѓу јавниот и приватниот сектор при спроведувањето туристичка политика во Македонија, особено при имплементирање на туристичкото законодавство.

The study explores determinants of energy consumption and efficiency in the hotel industry. It was conducted in Macedonia among managers of three, four and five-star hotels and identified the influencing factors of managing environmental protection practices. Results show that hotel category matters when addressing environmental policy issues. The evidence indicates that hotels support the European environmental impact assessment regulation, but there is a lack of interest due to restricted finances and high operation costs. Recommendations for hotel management for cutting the operational costs are also discussed.

The paper evaluates the current status of tourism development in the Wine route region in Macedonia. It analyses the major problems and obstacles that prevent further tourism expansion of this region by pointing to weaknesses that need to be addressed. The main accent is put on the necessity for reformulating the strategy for change. A field survey was conducted in the line of assessing the up-to-date tourism growth. The overall conclusion is that the destination has profound limiting factors for further tourism development. Therefore, the current marketing strategy needs an improvement in the line to overcome the spotted obstacles for destination and product development.

Tourism is the world’s largest industry and is a major area of interest, not just because of its size in terms of enormous number of travelers, passengers, visitors and tourists, or the size of their consumption, but also because of the enormous impact on the national economies and people’s lives. Tourism has proven to be a surprisingly strong and resilient economic activity and a fundamental contributor to the economic recovery by generating billions of dollars in exports and creating millions of jobs. The international tourist arrivals reached 1,138 million in 2014 (a 4.7% increase over 2013), while the number of overnight visitors reached 1,138 million in 2014 (51 million more than in 2013). With an increase of 4.7%, this is the fifth consecutive year of above average growth since the 2009 economic crisis. This has been true for destinations all around the world, but particularly for Europe, as the region struggles to consolidate its way out of one of the worst economic periods in its history. For the upcoming period, it is forecasted an increase of 3% to 4%, further contributing to the global economic recovery. This book seeks to outline the economic aspects of tourism. Moreover, it outlines the broad approach of the economic effects of tourism on national economy. It attempts to encourage the reader to conceptualize the most recent tourism developments in Macedonia. It poses two main parts, whereas the first is written by Prof. Ivanka Nestoroska and gives an overview of tourism in Macedonia, while the second is written by Prof. Biljana Petrevska and discusses tourism contribution to economic development. The first part of the book notes the main development characteristics of the most complex arena within which tourism operates. It describes the organizational and human resources aspects, as well as the scopes and dynamics of tourism flows. Furthermore, the first part highlights tourism potentials and future prospects by elaborating the case of Macedonia. The second part approaches with more standard debates associated with tourism development and its impacts from economic manner. It encourages the reader to use facts and figures for further discussions, by noting the significance of relational approaches in economics of tourism. The authors hope that this book although being imperfect, can assist and encourage students and practitioners to think about and practice tourism in the manner that will be considerably improved.

The study evaluates the application of the energy efficiency practices in the hotel industry. It explores the determinants of energy consumption in three and four-star hotels in Macedonia. The research investigates the impacts of several elementary components of the energy practices, by measuring the current level of influence. The data were obtained by an online survey conducted among managers and processed by descriptive statistics and factor analysis. The results point out some alarming facts, i.e. these types of hotels lack policies on general environmental issues. The managers pose some high awareness of the benefits produced by this concept, which is due to the highly positive perception of the environmental protection. The lack of subsidies at local and national level is identified as the most profound constraint along with the technical limits of the hotel facilities and costs increase. The study recommends some new approaches in challenging the hotel industry to decrease the operating costs and suggests that managers are in need for better understanding of the importance of the energy efficiency practices.

Hotels consume substantial quantity of energy, water and other non-durable products, thus provoking significant environmental impacts. On the other hand, they rely on clean nature and unpolluted environment as a core value for hotel industry. Tourists more often abandon tourism destinations in poor environmental condition and trace for hotels with eco label, eco certificate and certificate for energy efficiency. Consequently, hotel industry is becoming increasingly environmentally responsible by taking care of energy efficiency. The paper addresses the indicators for resources application in hotels, in the line of assessing the nature of energy. The research is consisted of an online survey conducted among managers and department supervisors of three, four and five star hotels in Macedonia. The results point that large number of hotels lack measures to reduce the conventional energy use and replace it with renewable sources of energy. Considering the fact that energy use is a substantial cost factor, the modest and restricted application of geothermal energy, biofuels and photocell lightening is extremely alarming for achieving sustainable tourism development. The study concludes that Macedonian hotels although being fully aware of importance of energy efficiency concept, it is not their managerial priority. Finally, the study recommends that instead of being driven by increased number of tourists regardless the environmental concern, Macedonian hotels should pay attention and become eco-friendly and be focused on applying environmental oriented practices. At the same time, the research poses new challenges that urgently need to be brought to hotel management in the line of achieving sustainable tourism development.

Tourism in Macedonia emerged as a major factor for regional and overall economic development, which can trigger growth and prosperity. However, some guidelines for sustainable development must be laid down in order to preserve resources, ensure complementarity between areas and define tourism development. This paper intends to assess the current, as well as to disentangle potentials for further tourism development of Krusevo, as a famous destinations in Macedonia. Moreover, it brings an analyses of major problems and underlying causes, as well as describes the weaknesses that need to be addressed. The focus is put on the major opportunities for improvements, particularly formulating the sector vision of change and the vision of change for products and services, as well as the identified interventions to reach the vision of change. In order to meet the research aims, the quantitative approach is mainly used by conducting a survey among four target groups, thus covering the demand and supply side. The overall conclusion is that the destination has profound limiting factors for tourism development. Therefore, the current marketing strategy needs an improvement in order to overcome the spotted obstacles for destination and product development.

Овој труд го истражува односот на младата популација во Македонија кон социјалните медиуми. Подетално, истражувањето проучува како младите го перципираат Интернетот, и дали користат електронски социјални мрежи во споделувањето искуства. И во двата случаи, поле на истражување е туризмот и патувањето. Оттука, целта на трудот е да дефинира туристички профил на младата популација во Македонија, и истовремено да го определи степенот на користење на електронските алатки. За тие потреби, спроведено е испитување на мислењето на 520 студенти како претставници на младата популација. Емпириското истражување ги потврдува поставените хипотези и укажува на огромното значење на социјалните медиуми во туристичката промоција на земјата. Воедно, трудот препорачува користење на Интернетот и другите електронски алатки во зголемувањето на свеста за Македонија како туристичка дестинација. Дополнително, овој труд ја поттикнува потребата за идентификување ефективна рамка за справување со досегашните скромни туристички резултати, притоа делувајќи како основа за иницирање предлози за подобрување, во прв ред на електронската туристичка промоција на Македонија.

The paper aims to measure seasonality patterns of tourism demand with a particular emphasis on selected countries from South East Europe. The intention is to test the flow distribution in a particular time-segment. This is done by calculating several standard indicators for quantifying inequality of tourism demand in the line of assessing dispersion and concentration in tourism. The outcome is computed annual single measure of the seasonality’s extend for each selected country (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia). The calculations are based upon monthly series of total number of tourists for the period 2007-2013. The comparative analysis points to interesting research results in terms of different levels of seasonality effects, from low seasonality and no substantial meaning for tourism development (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia), to high seasonality and considerable concentration of tourism demand (Croatia and Montenegro). Furthermore, the study strongly alarms all tourism key players to focus the attention on policies and strategies in the line of modifying tourism seasonality patterns. Finally, the additional contribution of the paper lies in the fact that represents a kind of a pioneer research that empirically investigates tourism seasonality in the region and offers a comparative analysis, thus enriching the poorly developed academic work in this field in Macedonia.

Preparation and consumption of food and wine is part of the culture, which emphasizes their importance to be included in all aspects of human life. In this line, the food does not reflect the intrinsic nature, but cultural “exercise” as well. Moreover, the way people prepare the food and wine can be considered as evidence of civilization since there are cultural differences in applying the basic ingredients. The paper presents an overview on the inevitable relationship between food and tourism, putting an accent on the gastronomy tourism. It describes the specific motivation of the gastronomic tourists and wine tourists by clarifying their consumption and experiences. Additionally, the paper investigates the case of Macedonia by elaborating the Macedonian cuisine and wine. Finally, it concludes that Macedonia is rich on exceptionally well produced food products and wine.

By becoming more familiarized with the importance of sustaining the ecosystem, one may find the necessity of introducing the ecotourism to the world’s industry. Despite numerous attempts to draw unique definition, one may say that it deals with the fact that urges responsibility while traveling to natural areas and conserves the environment, as well as improves the well-being of local inhabitants. The paper gives a snapshot on the ecotourism essentials and presents the importance of applying ecotourism certification programs. Moreover, the paper poses the general and specific objectives stated in the specific ecotourism accreditation programs. The basic financial obstacles, with which tourism enterprises are faced, are noted in addition. In this line, the types and mechanisms for funding, as well as the major financial “players” are elaborated. Finally, the paper concludes that tourism businesses, which have identified the necessity of certifying ecotourism programs, needs unconditionally to follow the ecotourism principles.

The aim of the paper is two-folded: firstly, theoretically to examine the determinants of tourism contribution, and then secondly, empirically to test the most profound factors that have influence on tourism development in Macedonia. Moreover, the study attempts to discover the relationship and the level of significance of several variables representing tourism contribution. For that purpose, the regression makes estimations by the OLS method, with a data set covering 1993-2012. The research findings reveal that some determinants exerted economically important influence on Macedonian economy, by showing elasticity. Particularly, the results show that foreign tourist arrivals is an influencing element, crucial for further tourism development, thus supporting the national economy.

In the past few years, tourism became an emerging sector in Macedonia. This research intends to investigate and estimate the impact of several factors that may be important in explaining tourism contribution to Macedonian economy. Moreover, this empirical study attempts to discover the relationship and the level of significance of several commonly applied variables representing tourism contribution. In this line, the investigation identifies the impacts of capital investment, foreign tourist arrivals and total overnights over the total travel and tourism contribution to GDP. For that purpose, the regression makes estimations by using the simple ordinary least squares (OLS) method. The data set covers the period 1993-2012. The research findings reveal modest contribution of tourism towards economic development in Macedonia. Therefore, the paper underscores the necessity for continuous analysis of tourism direct economic impacts as an important consideration for strengthening national economy.

За да може да се очекува успешен развој на туризмот, мора да се применува концептот на неговото планирање. Притоа, мора да се води грижа за остварување на сите приоритетни цели на туристичкото планирање, во прв ред мислејќи на: економскиот развој на земјата; задоволувањето на потребите на туристите; и заштитата на ресурсите преку интегрирање на туризмот во социјалниот и економскиот живот на заедницата. Истовремено, генералната политика на туристичкото планирање треба да биде насочена подеднакво и кон создавањето квантитет, но и кон подобрувањето на неговиот квалитет. Така, сомнежот кој во минатото постоеше за ефектите од воведувањето концепт на туристичкото планирање, веќе одамна е надминат. Последователно, на туристичкото планирање сѐ повеќе се гледа како на неминовна насока за иден развој на туризмот. Соодветно на тоа, проблематиката на примена на туристичкото планирање е централна тема на оваа книга. Методолошки, книгата е структурирана во три дела кои меѓусебно се надоврзуваат и надополнуваат. Во првиот дел е детално објаснет концептот на туристичкото планирање, пришто е дадена продлабочена анализа за пооделните фази на планирањето, нивоата, целите, елементите како и значењето на планирањето. Вториот дел прави чекор понатаму и се обидува да даде одговор на најважните прашања поврзани со планирањето на развојот на туризмот. Во таа насока, најнапред се разработени најкарактеристичните прашања поврзани со туристичкиот развоен план, а потоа е укажано на значењето на предвидувањето како неизбежен дел од планирањето. Така, покрај најважните прашања поврзани со предвидувањето на туристичката побарувачка, дадена е и кратка анализа на најчесто употребуваните квантитативни и квалитативни методи и модели за предвидување, со цел да се согледаат предностите и недостатоците при нивната практична примена. Книгата е заокружена со третиот дел кој е во целост посветен на туристичкото планирање во Македонија, пришто се дадени многубројни емпириски истражувања од кои произлегуваат интересни заклучни согледувања и препораки.

Овој труд го истражува односот на младата популација во Македонија кон социјалните медиуми. Подетално, истражувањето проучува како младите го перципираат Интернетот, и дали користат електронски социјални мрежи во споделувањето искуства. И во двата случаи, поле на истражување е туризмот и патувањето. Оттука, целта на трудот е да дефинира туристички профил на младата популација во Македонија, и истовремено да го определи степенот на користење на електронските алатки. За тие потреби, спроведено е испитување на мислењето на 520 студенти како претставници на младата популација. Емпириското истражување ги потврдува поставените хипотези и укажува на огромното значење на социјалните медиуми во туристичката промоција на земјата. Воедно, трудот препорачува користење на Интернетот и другите електронски алатки во зголемувањето на свеста за Македонија како туристичка дестинација. Дополнително, овој труд ја поттикнува потребата за идентификување ефективна рамка за справување со досегашните скромни туристички резултати, притоа делувајќи како основа за иницирање предлози за подобрување, во прв ред на електронската туристичка промоција на Македонија.

Туризмот претставува една од најбрзо растечките индустрии во светот. Ако се имаат предвид многубројните позитивни влијанија кои туризмот ги има врз економијата, сосема е оправдан фактот што речиси сите земји, независно од степенот на економски развој, настојуваат да го развијат. Овој труд има за цел да го истражи влијанието на неколку фактори кои се особено значајни во појаснувањето на придонесот на туризмот во економскиот развој на Македонија. Поконкретно, ова емпириско истражување прави обид да ја открие зависноста и степенот на значајност на одредени детерминанти кои најчесто го опишуваат туристичкиот придонес. Во таа насока, во истражувањето испитувана е меѓузависноста помеѓу, од една страна, капиталните инвестиции во туризмот, бројот на доаѓања на странските туристи и вкупниот број ноќевања, и нивното влијание кое го имаат врз бруто домашниот производ кој е креиран во туризмот. За таа цел, направена е повеќекратна регресија преку примена на методот на најмали квадрати (OLS). Временскиот период се протега во интервалот помеѓу 1993-2012 година. Резултатите од истражувањето покажуваат дека некои детерминанти се манифестираат со голема еластичност што зборува за нивно големо влијание врз економскиот развој во Македонија. Наспроти нив, трудот ги дефинира оние детерминанти на туристичкиот придонес кои имаат многу скромно значење за Македонската економија. На крајот, произлегува заклучокот за неоходност од постојано следење и анализа на директните економски влијанија на туризмот како значајни фактори во зајакнување на националната економија.

Tourism development is often interrupted by seasonality, which is noted as one of the most influencing factor for limiting continuous enlargement. Therefore, many tourism-oriented countries try to overcome seasonality in the line of prolonging tourist season as a precondition for creating sustainable and competitive tourism development. In this respect, the paper makes an attempt to introduce a simple test for examining the presence of seasonality in tourism in Macedonia. In order to meet the main aim, the research is fully covered by quantitative approach by employing the Gini coefficient, as one of the most applied indicators for measuring tourism seasonality. The data set covers a sample dealing with the number of tourist arrivals for the period 2005-2012. The research results point to low-level seasonality patterns and indicate importance of its follow-up. The findings confirm that tourism flow distribution or concentration is not significant to tourism development in Macedonia. So, the high peaks in July and August have not sufficient capacity and strength for serious influence with an in-depth manner. Generally, both, the academics and the practitioners s well, may find the results of the research useful since it disentangles the belief of having strong and notable high season during summer months. Additionally, this study may serve as a starting point for urging measures for enhancing the up-to-date modest tourism development in Macedonia.

In the first decade of the 21st century, tourism was faced with many different events, some having negative effects on world tourism industry. The global economic crisis was the one provoking profound damages. This research makes an attempt to describe and clarify the effects of the world economic crisis on tourism development by elaborating the case of Macedonia. Moreover, it argues the consequences, in the first line the negative ones, to the overall economic growth. For that purpose, this empirical investigation generally covers comparative analyses based on stylized facts obtained from desk-research and available sources of secondary data. In this line, some commonly applied economic parameters are posed, thus identifying tourism industry in Macedonia during a sample 2002-2012. Since the quantitative analyses do not always disentangle key facts necessary for pointing out concluding remarks regarding particular issues, analyses based on qualitative approach are additionally introduced. The research findings point to fact that Macedonia was not immune to the negative shocks provoked by the world economic crisis that interrupted the upward tourism trend. Furthermore, the research underscores the necessity for continuous analysis of tourism economic impacts as an important consideration for strengthening national economy. Finally, the paper gains additional importance since the outcomes pose some valuable considerations to all tourism key-actors responsible for creating economic development strategies in Macedonia.

In the past few decades, tourism has emerged as one of the major industries in the world economy, by benefiting transportation, accommodation, catering and many other sectors. It provokes an interest among all countries, regardless the level of economic development. Therefore, many undeveloped and developing countries identified tourism as one of the greatest sources of economic growth and detected it as the only way-out for economic prosperity. This research argues the inevitable relationship between tourism and economic development with an aim to investigate tourism impacts. Moreover, the paper attempts to disentangle the economic impacts of tourism industry in Macedonia by assessing its direct contribution to the economic development. For that purpose, some commonly applied economic parameters are addressed: the gross domestic product in order to measure the contribution of tourism to the overall economic activity; employment in tourism as possibility to contribute to job creation in combating unemployment rate; and the net flows of tourism services by analyzing the balance of payments. The research generally covers comparative analyses based on stylized facts obtained from desk-research and available sources of secondary data. The data set covers the period 1997-2012. Special attention is put on the period before and after the global financial crisis. The research findings reveal modest contribution of tourism towards economic development in Macedonia. Similar to many tourism-oriented countries, Macedonia was not immune to the negative shocks provoked by the world economic crisis that interrupted the upward tourism trend. The research underscores the necessity for continuous analysis of tourism economic impacts as an important consideration for strengthening national economy. Finally, the paper gains additional importance since the outcomes pose some valuable considerations to all tourism key-actors responsible for creating economic development strategies in Macedonia.

The paper intends to underline that tourists’ and travelers’ behaviour and preferences have changed dramatically specifically in the way how they search for information. In order to create a tailor-made itinerary and enhance the way of planning a tourist trip, the paper suggests introduction of tourism recommendation systems. For this purpose, a methodology is proposed that assists all interested parties in planning their vacation in more intelligent and sophisticated way by generating a personalized list of favorable items. By application of this approach, consumers can create custom-made ideal holiday, thus resulting in satisfied tourists with access to various information on prices, distributors, providers and entire market of competitors, and pay for a high quality service.

The paper argues the necessity of applying innovative approaches in meeting tourists’ needs and preferences, thus acting as sophisticated toll for promoting tourism. The research investigates the case of Macedonia and attempts to justify the necessity of developing intelligent way for supporting and enhancing tourism promotion. Moreover, it poses positive impulses from introducing recommendation systems to tourism industry as a precondition for assisting tourists and travelers in identifying personal tailor-made itinerary. Additionally, the paper gives a glance on positive outcomes from such software module, particularly to small and tourism developing countries as Macedonia. Finally, this research aims to alarm relevant tourism-actors in the country, that the time has changed and that new innovative approaches must be introduced when addressing tourism promotion on national level.

The purpose of this paper is to examine presence and influence of seasonality on tourism development in Macedonia. The research is mainly covered by quantitative approach by employing several commonly applied indicators for measuring tourism seasonality, like: the Gini coefficient, the Seasonality Indicator and the Coefficient of Variation. Data was generated from the sample covering 1992-2012 in terms of tourist arrivals. The research results clarify existence of low-level seasonality patterns and indicate importance of its follow-up. The findings confirm that tourism flow distribution or concentration is not significant to tourism development. Both, academics and practitioners can find the results of the research useful since it disentangles the belief of having strong and notable high season during summer months. Additionally, this study may serve as a starting point for urging measures and activities for enhancing the up-to-date modest tourism development in Macedonia. Finally, the contribution of this paper is in the fact that it enriches poorly developed empirical academic work within this scientific area in Macedonia.

The paper notifies the importance of planning process in tourism development in order to ensure maximizing the benefits for all policy stakeholders, while minimizing negative effects. Due to inevitable relationship between tourism planning and forecasting, the latter must be implemented in the line of formulating adequate tourism development plan and policy. The paper aims to quantify potential tourism demand in hilly-mountain areas by providing medium-run estimations in terms of tourist arrivals. For the purpose of the research, the case of Macedonia is investigated. Furthermore, the paper is rich on stylized facts referring tourist participation within hilly-mountain areas. The outcomes point to conclusion of having strong potentials for enhancing the up-to-date modest tourism results in mountain resorts. Although, the applied methods are not capable of explaining the driving factors behind the research estimations, the values can serve as a base for creating comprehensive economic and tourism development policy. Finally, this empirical evidence contributes to enriching the poorly developed academic work within this scientific area in Macedonia.

The main aim of the paper is to make an empirical investigation on necessary hotel accommodation. Moreover, the research attempts to calculate optimum hotel accommodation supply in terms of number of hotel bed places and bedrooms. In this line, the case of Macedonia is examined by employing standard formulas and by calculating several alternative specifications. The research covers the period 2000-2012 and addresses total tourist arrivals. The results point to discrepancy between calculated optimal hotel capacity and the current ones, posing some relevant recommendations for capacity enlargement. Additionally, the research urges the need for introducing significant efforts for enhancing the up-to-date modest tourism development in Macedonia.

The empirical analysis of money demand seems to be of crucial importance for checking the existence of a stable relationship between money and prices as a prerequisite of attaching a greater role for monetary aggregates in the conduct of monetary policy. This paper provides for an empirical analysis of the demand for narrow money in the FYR of Macedonia. Specifically, the paper deals with the following issues: the empirical modelling of the demand for money in the long-run, the short-run dynamics of money, and the stability of the demand for money. The empirical analysis of the demand for money in the FYR of Macedonia covers the period from the first quarter of 1994 up to the last quarter of 2012. We work with quarterly values of the following variables: narrow money as represented by the monetary aggregate M1 (comprising cash plus sight deposits), real Gross Domestic Product, and nominal interest rate on 3-month time deposits, denominated in domestic currency. We employ the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) where we first check for the long-run relationship between the variables and then we investigate the short-run dynamics. As part of the estimation strategy, we first run a series of unit root test, which shows that narrow money, GDP and interest rates are non-stationary. Then, we proceed by testing for the presence of cointegration between these three variables by means of the Johansen maximum likelihood approach. In order to determine the number of cointegrating vectors, we employed the two alternative test statistics: the trace of the stochastic matrix and the maximum eigenvalue. Based on both tests we can conclude that there is cointegration relationship between the variables of interest. Hence, the cointegrating vector can be interpreted as a money demand function, where money holdings are positively related to real income and negatively associated with the short run interest rate. As for the economic importance of the obtained coefficients, it can be seen that income elasticity is much lower than unity, i.e. it is closer to 0.5. This result may reflect the fact that we model the demand for narrow money, which serves for transaction purposes and not as an asset, so that economic agents tend to economise with money holdings. This finding is further confirmed by the pretty high coefficient before the interest rate, which is in line with the interest semi-elasticity usually found in other countries with less developed financial systems. As for the short-run dynamics, the results suggest very slow adjustment of the demand for money towards its longrun equilibrium level. Finally, we estimate the recursive coefficients before real income and nominal interest rates and find that they remain quite stable over time. Therefore, we take this exercise as evidence in favour of the stability of the demand for money.

The main aim of the paper is to make an empirical investigation on tourism seasonality. Moreover, the research examines seasonal patterns in tourism in terms of tourist arrivals. In this line, the case of Macedonia is studied by employing the Gini coefficient and Seasonality Indicator, thus covering a time-frame of past two decades. The results reject the research hypothesis and point to conclusion of having low seasonality in tourism. Hence, this empirical evidence confirm that tourism flow distribution or concentration is not significant to tourism development. The contribution of this paper lies in the fact that disentangles the belief of having strong and notable high season during summer months. Additionally, this research may serve as a starting point for urging measures and activities for enhancing the up-to-date modest tourism development in Macedonia.

Being defined as one of the everlasting resources, the cultural heritage enriches tourism supply of Macedonia, thus identifying it as unique tourist destination. The geographical location makes Macedonia a magnet for tourists from all over the world. Enormously rich in cultural treasures it might be the next big discovery for curious and always seeking cultural tourism travelers. The paper makes an attempt to investigate possibilities for promoting cultural tourism in Macedonia by using the Web as the leading source of information particularly important in times of increased number of competitors in tourism market. This study is focused on strengths and challenges associated with application of Internet as a rapidly evolving medium in tourism promotion. For this purpose, the paper examines the perception of young population generally towards the aspect of usage of on-line social networks and the Internet in sharing cultural tourism experiences. In this respect, the aim of this research is to determine the level of application and trust in e-media for cultural tourism promotion purposes. So, this empirical evidence reports on analysis based on data obtained from customer survey among 502 young-adult consumers in Macedonia. The outcomes confirm the research hypothesis and point to crucial importance of introducing e-media for promoting cultural tourism. Moreover, this research may serve as a strong background for enlarging quantity of tourists and travelers particularly interested in cultural tourism, as well as in increasing the knowledge for Macedonia as a tourist destination. Finally, the paper strongly recommends this concept and urges the need for identifying effective framework for mitigating the up-to-date modest tourism results, thus acting as basis for initial suggestions in improving cultural tourism promotion.

The paper underlines the importance of meeting and fulfilling travelers’ and tourists’ preferences by introducing personalized recommendation system. The proposed web-based software model employs the process of collaborative filtering in order to assist tourists in identification of their ideal holiday. The research outcome is creation of generated personalized list of favorable and tailor-made potential items for all visitors of designed tourism portal. The accuracy testing performed highly satisfactory results thus reporting on positive practical experience at national level.

Recently, tourists transformed themselves from a passive audience to active players. Despite the variety of information regarding tourist destination or attraction, tourists are frequently not capable to cope with such a huge volume of choice. The main idea of this book is designing a tourism recommender system aimed at assisting tourists in finding a way-out in the e-tourism “chaos”. This system facilitates personal selection and prevents tourists and travelers from being overwhelmed by a stream of superfluous data that are unrelated to their interest, location and knowledge of a place. In tourism domain recommendations may refer to indicate cities to go to, places to visit, attractions to see, events to participate in, road maps, options for hotels, etc. The proposed methodology may be useful to students, professionals in communication and promotion, and particularly to tourism policy-makers since it highlights the fact that the time has changed and the on-line experience has shifted from searching and consuming to creating, connecting and exchanging.

Имајќи предвид дека Дојранскиот регион е дефиниран како стратегиска туристичка локација во рамки на кластерот езерски туризам во Македонија, трудот прави приказ на можноста за проектирање на неговите туристички движења. Темелено на позитивниот тренд на досегашниот туристички развој, направен е обид да се предвидат идните туристички движења набљудувани во пошироки регионални рамки. Акцентирана е потребата од примена на квантитативните методи за предвидување на туристичката побарувачка како основа за креирање методолошка рамка за иден туристички развој. Применет е методот на двојно експоненцијално порамнување преку два основни модела. По тестирање на прецизноста, предложен е модел за предвидување на бројот на туристи до 2014 год.

Оваа студија има за цел да ја презентира и елаборира потребата од воведување персонализиран систем за препораки на туристички објекти на локално ниво. Поконкретно, анализиран е случајот на Охрид како конкретен пример за апликативна примена на софтверот кој дава препораки за посета на објекти, знаменитости и настани кои делуваат во насока на развој на културниот туризам. За да се постигне таа цел, методолошки студијата е структурирана во неколку дела. По првиот воведен дел, следуваат: вториот дел кој ги појаснува генералните концепции поврзани со културниот туризам и е-туризмот; третиот дел ги посочува предусловите за развој на културниот туризам во Охрид, како и тековната понуда поставена преку веб портали; четвртиот дел ја елаборира неопходноста од развивање и воведување системи за препораки на културниот туризам на локално ниво, притоа давајќи и генерален опис на системите за генерирање препораки, опишувајќи го самиот процес на генерирање препораки, како и осврнувајќи се на тековните научни истражувања во областа; петтиот дел дава опис на иновативниот алгоритам за генеирање препораки предложен во оваа студија; шестиот дел го опишува веб базираниот информациски систем кој се темели на развиениот алгоритам; седмиот дел ги презентира резултатите од експерименталната евалуација на системот применет на Охридскиот регион. Главните заклучоци и идните насоки за подобрување и унапредување на оваа проблематика се евидентирани во осмиот дел. Генерално, придонесот на овој труд лежи во фактот дека ја збогатува стручната литература во оваа научна област. Истовремено, трудот добива на дополнително значење бидејќи елаборира конкретен пример од Македонија т.е. нуди развиен софтверски модул за промоција на културниот туризам во Охрид. Искрено веруваме во можноста оваа студија да им биде од полза на сите оние кои на било кој начин имаат допирна точка со туризмот. Доколку пак, читателите се од редовите на студентите, тогаш книгата, во форма на дополнителна литература, би можела да им ги доближи многубројните прашања со кои се сретнале во основната литература, но овој пат применети на конкретен случај на локално ниво.

The paper underlines the importance of applying forecasting methods in estimation of tourism trends. In this respect, two quantitative methods were used: (1) the method of exponential smoothing, through two of its variants: Double Exponential Smoothing and the Holt-Winters Smoothing; and (2) the Box-Jenkins methodology, through several alternative specifications. The result of the research is a medium-term estimation of foreign tourism demand for destinations in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) by the end of 2014. Despite the fact that all applied methods are not capable of explaining the driving factors behind the results, the estimated values can serve as a base for identifying measures and activities necessary for creating comprehensive tourism policy., tourismos, Vol. 8 No. 1 (2013)

Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are one of the fundamentals that enables and accelerates economic development of a national economy. Therefore, each national economy must layout preconditions that will enable attracting of foreign capital. Among other things, an adequate legislation considering the FDI’s is a prerequisite. Hence, the governmental role and policies towards FDI issues may have significant influence on improving the investment climate. The purpose of this paper is to present the manner and scope to which the governmental policies approach this crucial issue. For this purpose, the first goal is to look upon legislative aspects for attracting FDI in Macedonia. The second one is to explore the institutional mechanisms that present coordinates and determinants of the framework for doing business. Simultaneously, the research subject is legislative that regulate this area, as well as some other legal aspects, as: the laws related to the foreign trade, fiscal sector, institutional frame, foreign exchange operations, the area of labor relations, etc. The research results lead to conclusion that the legislation framework, as significant factor of national business environment, provides opportunities for FDI enhancement in Macedonia. Although significant results have been achieved so far, particularly in the last decade, still, there is a need for further improvement of current legislation. Keywords: Foreign direct investments; Foreign capital; Legislation; Business; Macedonia. JEL Classification: G28

The paper argues the importance of creating personalized recommender, particularly in small and tourism developing countries as Macedonia. Due to the fact that tourism emerged as one of the major industries in the world economy by benefiting various sectors, each country is interested in its development. Having in mind that increasing the number of tourists is significant source of income and economic growth, meeting their preferences is inevitable. In this respect, the paper makes an attempt to justify the necessity of designing national tourism portal in order to help the tourists to identify their holiday through a recommender. So, this empirical evidence reports on practical experience gained from a successful implementation of a collaborative filtering tourism recommendation system. Moreover, software module is developed which is capable of generating a personalized list of interesting items for all visitors of a national tourism web portal.

Being recognized as one of the fastest growing world-wide industries in the last decades, tourism development was sharply interrupted in the middle of 2008 by the global financial crisis. This paper makes an attempt to describe the effects of the world economic crisis on tourism development by elaborating the case of Macedonia. Moreover, it argues the consequences, in the first line the negative ones, to the overall economic growth. In this respect, some commonly applied economic parameters are assessed in order to present an overview of the main indicators which identify tourism industry in Macedonia. Generally, the paper outcomes are based on various analyses made upon available secondary data collected through desk-research on descriptive statistics, thus covering a data set from 2008-2011. The research results point to conclusion that Macedonia was not immune to the negative shocks of the world economic crisis. Finally, the paper urges the need for identifying effective framework for mitigating the impacts of the past crisis, but also for reducing the chances of having a similar one in the future.

This study is focused on the strengths and challenges associated with using the Internet as a rapidly evolving medium in tourism promotion. For this purpose, the paper examines the young-adult consumers’ attitude, mainly towards three aspects: (1) application of Internet for travel and tourism; (2) usage of on-line social networks in sharing travel and tourism experiences; and (3) trust in e-media for tourism promotion purposes. The aim of this research is to determine the level of application of e-tools in tourism promotion by young population in Macedonia. So, this empirical evidence reports on analysis based on data obtained from customer survey among 502 young-adult consumers. The outcomes confirm the research hypothesis and point to crucial importance of introducing e-tools for tourism promotion and increasing the awareness for Macedonia as a tourist destination. Moreover, the paper strongly recommends this concept and urges the need for identifying effective framework for mitigating the up-to-date modest tourism results, thus acting as basis for initial suggestions in improving tourism promotion of the country.

Трудот укажува на предизвиците околу интензивната примена на Интернетот како медиум во промоција на туризмот. За таа цел, предмет на истражување е односот на младата популација генерално кон три аспекти: (1) Примена на Интернетот во туризмот и патувањето; (2) Користење електронски социјални мрежи во споделувањето искуства од туризмот и патувањето; и (3) Доверба во електронските медиуми за потребите на туристичката промоција. Целта на овој труд е да го определи степенот на користење на електронските алатки во туристичката промоција од страна на младата популација во Македонија. Оттука, ова емпириско истражување информира за резултатите добиени од анкета спроведена на 502 млади потрошувачи. Исходите ги потврдуваат поставените истражувачки хипотези и укажуваат на круцијалното значење за примена на електронските алатки во туристичката промоција со цел зголемување на свеста и сознанието за Македонија како туристичка дестинација. Во таа насока, трудот го препорачува овој концепт и ја поттикнува потребата за идентификување ефективна рамка за справување со досегашните скромни туристички резултати, дејствувајќи притоа како основа за иницијални препораки за подобрување на туристичката промоција во земјата.

For many decades, tourism in the world has been experiencing continuing growth, being interrupted by the global financial crisis. This paper attempts to describe the effects of the world economic crisis on tourism in Macedonia and the consequences to the overall economic development. Therefore, some of the commonly used economic parameters are assessed in order to present an overview of the main indicators which identify tourism industry in Macedonia. In this respect, the study is based on various analyses made upon available secondary data collected through desk-research on descriptive statistics. In the line of providing more accurate results of crisis impacts, the applied data set is divided into two sub-periods. The first period starts from 2002 to 2007 and covers a six-year horizon before the world crisis emerges. The second refers to the period from 2008 to 2010 as a short-term interval for summarizing the crisis outcomes. The results point out that Macedonia, as most tourism-oriented countries, was not immune to the negative shocks. Finally, the paper urges the need for identifying effective framework for mitigating the impact of the past crisis, but also for reducing the chances of having a similar one in the future.

Every country is interested in tourism development for its general contribution to national income and economic growth. Since attracting bigger number of tourists is not a trouble-free process, particularly in times of ever-changing environment, tourism promotion is detected as a way-out. The paper argues the importance of creating personalized tourism recommender. Moreover, it attempts to justify the necessity of designing web-based portal in order to assist tourists and travelers in identification of their holiday. The case of Macedonia as an empirical evidence reports on practical experience gained from a successful implementation of recommendation system in tourism promotion purposes.

The paper attempts to make an overview on current patterns of rural tourism in Macedonia as well as to recommend future steps for introducing rural tourism development zones. In this respect, the research is based on various analyses made upon available secondary data collected through desk-research on descriptive statistics and stylized facts. The outcomes point out that Macedonia, opposite many tourism-oriented countries, notes very modest results in this area. So, the paper identifies numerous potentials for developing rural tourism zones thus emphasizing the need for undertaking serious measures and activities on central and local level. Moreover, it points to the necessity for identifying effective strategic framework for enhancing rural tourism which might result with existence of around thirty rural tourism development zones, over twenty rural tourist centers and over two-hundred rural tourism settlements in Macedonia.

Due to the fact that tourism generates many impacts which are contributing to the overall economic development, the inevitable connection is evident to the process of state, regional and community planning. This study addresses the role of government in its efforts for undertaking tourism policy that ensures hosting visitors by maximizing the benefits to all involved stakeholders, while minimizing the negative impacts associated with accomplishing successful destination. This has been a priority task to all governments, particularly to small and developing countries as Macedonia. So, the research addresses the role of government in its efforts for planning and promoting sustainable tourism development in Macedonia. Several key areas of governmental influence on tourism development are assessed based on available primary and secondary sources of desk-research. The paper is reach on comparable quantities analyzed by descriptive statistics with a data set generally covering a twenty year horizon and over. Despite the significant governmental efforts, the up-to-date results point to modest and limited outcomes with regards to the sustainable tourism development. This empirical evidence underlines the importance of government actions, support and encouragement as a prerequisite for well-established tourism planning process in the line of accomplishing positive impacts with larger extends.

The paper makes an attempt to provide estimation of foreign tourism demand by 2014, by investigating the case of Macedonia. The author applies the Box-Jenkins methodology and tests several alternative specifications in the modeling of original time series. Upon the outcomes of standard indicators for accuracy testing, the research identifies the model of ARIMA(1.1.1) with a dummy, as the most appropriate. According to the four-year-forecasts, it is expected a 25 % increase of the international tourist arrivals. Although the suggested model cannot explain the driving factors behind the results, the projected values can assist in mitigating the potential negative impacts as well as in the preparation of tourism development plan in Macedonia.