IMPACT OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC ON THE NUMBER OF VISITORS IN KATLANOVSKA SPA
Keywords:
COVID 19, pandemic, Katlanovska Spa, touriamAbstract
The COVID 19 pandemic has caused a major global crisis in public health with terrifying health and
socio-economic consequences. In addition to the large number of cases and the large number of deaths, this
pandemic has also caused a large impact and decline in tourism. Quarantine measures, travel restrictions and social
distancing as well as the large number of restrictions caused a significant decrease in the number of tourists.
Tourism researchers strive to determine the changes that are occurring, reflect on the importance of the pandemic,
and predict the future of tourism. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically review the attendance of
Katlanovska Spa, that is, the number of visitors before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose
were used a comparative analysis of the number of domestic visitors, foreign visitors and outpatient cases in the
period from 2018 to 2021. Based on these analyses, conclusions were drawn as to how the COVID-19 pandemic
affected the visitation of the spa. Methodology: To achieve the set goal, the methods that were used are analysis and
retrospective analysis of the number of visitors in Katlanovska Spa for the period from 2018 to 2021. The data were
collected from the statistical reports of Katlanovska Spa and they were processed tabularly and graphically. The
analysis was based on the basis of previously studied scientific theoretical content of materials that include:
literature, books, magazines and newspapers, reports, relevant publications, on-line databases, as well as all other
published materials. Results: Based on the research done during the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest drop in
visitors is the number of domestic visitors, which is from 4240 in 2018, i.e. 4080 in 2019 (average 4160) recorded a
drop of an average of 1950 patients that is a drop of 54%. In the analysing years, the biggest drop occurred in 2020
when only 1437 patients were hospitalized, which is a drop of 64.5%. In 2021, the number of visitors is 2463 and is
59.2% less compared to the pre-pandemic years.Number of foreign visitor dropped from 163 in 2019 to only 18
visitors in 2020 (89% decrease). The smallest drop in the number of visitors is among outpatient cases, from 1857 in
2019 to 1399 in 2020, which is a 25% drop compared to the pre-pandemic years. The number of outpatients visitors
in 2021 increased to 2627, which is an increase of 29.6%. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic left a big impact
on the work of Katlanovska Spa. In 2020, there are 64.5% fewer hospitalized compared to the pre-pandemic years.
The biggest drop of 89% in visits compared to the pre-pandemic years is in the category of foreign visitors.
References
Ahmad A., Jamaludin A., Zuraimi N.S.M., Valeri M. (2021). Visit intention and destination image in post-Covid-19 crisis recovery. Current Issues in Tourism. 24 (17) 2392-2397.
Collins-Kreiner N., Ram Y. (2020). National tourism strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Annals of Tourism Research.
Draghici, C.,PintililliRadu, D et all (2015). The Role of SPA Tourism in the Development of Local Economies from Romania, Procedia Economics and Finance, Volume 23, Pages 1573-1577
Galvani A., Lew A.A., Perez M.S. (2020). COVID-19 is expanding global consciousness and the sustainability of travel and tourism. Tourism Geographies, 22, 567-576.
Hall C.M., Scott D., Gössling S. (2020). Pandemics, transformations and tourism: Be careful what you wish for. Tourism Geographies, 22, 577-598.
Kock F., Nørfelt A., Josiassen A., Assaf A.G., Tsionas M.G. (2020). Understanding the COVID-19 tourist psyche: The evolutionary tourism paradigm. Annals of Tourism Research, 85, Article 103053.
Mueller, H., Kaufmann, E.L. : (2001). Wellness tourism: Market analysis of a special health tourism segment and implications for the hotel industry, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7 , pp. 15-17
Mizrachi I., Gretzel U.(2020). Collaborating against COVID-19: Bridging travel and travel tech. Information Technology & Tourism, 22, 489-496.
Pardo C. , Ladeiras A. (2020). Covid-19 “tourism in flight mode”: A lost opportunity to rethink tourism–towards a more sustainable and inclusive society, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 12 (6), 671-678.
Radoslavovъ M., (1941). Bogomilъ Mineralnitъ izvori i bani vъ Makedoniя i ю`no moravsko. Sofiя, 11-15.
Romagosa F. (2020). The COVID-19 crisis: Opportunities for sustainable and proximity tourism
Tourism Geographies, 22, 690-694.
WHO: (2019). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-
Котевски, Ѓ., (1987). Хидрогеологија на минералните, термалните и термоминералните води на територијата на СРМ. Самоуправна практика, 107-134.
Стојмилов, А., (1983). Катлановска Бања, туристичко-географски проучувања, 75-101.
