| Macedonia or Macedonia? |
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If VisitScotland thinks it gets a hard time for its unappreciated efforts to attract ever more visitors to these shores, then it should spare a thought for the beleaguered tourism chief of Macedonia. Agency chief, Igor Simjanoski, has one of the toughest PR sells in the European tourism business. His problem? How to build a tourism brand for a country whose very name is the centre of an international dispute that has little likelihood of being resolved in the near future. The problem lies with Greece, Macedonia’s southern neighbour. Macedonia is also the name of a province in northern Greece and this split personality is proving a major stumbling block to the development of the country’s tourism ‘brand’. Currently the Greek government is insisting that Macedonia - the country - be given the catchy title the 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia', to differentiate it from Macedonia – the province, following? This confusion is understandably causing headaches for Igor in his bid to boost visitor numbers to a country that has undoubted potential to be the next big 'hidden gem' for the more adventurous traveller. With great weather in the summer, potential skiing in the winter, fantastic hiking mountains and friendly locals, the Macedonians definitely think so. Plans are in place to almost double the size of the industry by 2018 making a contribution of $880 million dollars and transforming it into one of the most important industries in this country of two million people. But if sorting out the name wasn’t problematic enough for Igor and his colleagues another major obstacle is access, Macedonia is not an easy place to get to. So what are they doing about it? Their answer lies with a full blown public relations and communications campaign throughout the EU, not just to raise the profile of the country but specifically to sell Macedonia as a potential destination for budget airlines. No easy task in the current economic climate that is seeing routes cut and airlines going under. But Macedonians are optimists. Their most famous son Alexander the Great overcame more than a few hurdles building one the greatest empires the world has ever seen and his spirit lives on. The government sees tourism as key to transforming the Macedonian economy, but their success or failure will hinge on the effectiveness of their communications in changing opinions and putting the country on the map. So, be ready to see and learn a lot more about this beautiful, if undiscovered corner of Europe. Sept 14 |