DEVELOPMENT OF SPA TOURISM IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA OVER THE YEARS

Abstract

The use of thermal waters for medical purposes has been known since ancient Greek and Roman times. In Republic of North Macedonia, archaeological research shows that thermal waters for bathing were first used by the Romans and later by the Turks. But, the baths that we have today were built between 1960 and 1980. While many countries in Europe have a constant increase in spa tourists and every year they modernize the spas and increase the spa facilities, this is not the case with our country. This can be observed in the researched 15 year period in which there are years of development and years of decline of spa tourism in the country. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to see how spa tourism has changed in the Republic of North Macedonia over the years, covering a 15 year period. In this case are presented all the ups and downs in the number of spa tourists and the number of overnight stays, as well as the number of rooms and beds in the spas for the period from 2008 to 2022. Methodology: For the purposes of this research, several methods were used, including: the analysis method, the descriptive method, the compilation method, the comparison method, and the historical method. The statistical data were collected from the database of the State Statistics Office of the Republic of North Macedonia and they are presented in tabular and graphical form. Results:Spa tourism in the Republic of North Macedonia is very poorly developed. The number of rooms in the spas reached its maximum in 2010 (538 rooms in total), and the largest number of beds were in 2015 and 2016 (1296 in total). In 2018, there is a sharp drop in the number of rooms and beds, which from 529 rooms and 1267 beds in 2017 drops to 242 rooms and only 518 beds in total in all baths in the country. Regarding the number of visitors, the largest number of visitors were in 2022, 32 792 in total, which represents 6 125 more visitors than the average, i.e. an increase of 18,7%, and the lowest number of visitors were in 2020 (12,876 in total). When considering the number of overnight stays, it can be noted that the highest number of overnight stays were in 2017 (245 374 overnight stays), with the lowest number of overnight stays in 2020 (90 805 in total), which represents a decrease of 45,6% compared to the average number of overnight stays. Conclusions: In the researched period from 2008 to 2022, spa tourism in the Republic of North Macedonia doesn’t have a constant development, but records ups and downs over the years. The lowest number of visitors and overnight stays were in 2018 with a total of 12 876 visitors, i.e. 90 805 overnight stays. The number of visitors shows a significant increase in 2022, a total of 32 796 visitors, including foreign, domestic and one day visits to the spas, and reaches its maximum for the investigated 15
year period.