DOMESTIC VERSUS FOREIGN VISITORS TO THE SPAS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

Thermal and SPA tourism enjoys great popularity among travelers worldwide. Refreshing massage, soothing baths or therapy with exotic hot stones attract a large number of women, as well as men every day. Thermal spa treatments have been proven to combat stress, reduce anxiety and help people feel more focused. Spas in the Republic of Macedonia mainly work with domestic visitors, the number of foreign visitors is significantly low, offering basic health services.Purpose: Since spa tourism in the Republic of North Macedonia is not very developed, the purpose of this paper is to see the attendance of the spas by domestic visitors compared to the attendance by foreign visitors. This research covers a 15 year period from 2008 to 2022 and presents the number of visitors as well as the number of overnight stays by domestic and foreign visitors. Methodology: In this scientific paper, several methods were used, including: analysis based on all published and available materials including: books, internet databases, magazines and all other published materials, method of comparison, which will serve us to make a comparison between the domestic and foreign visits to the baths, a method of compilation citation of other people's thoughts/quotes and statements related to the scientific research work. The statistical data were obtained from the State Statistics Office of the Republic of North Macedonia. Results: In the researched period from 2008 to 2022, the least domestic visitors were in 2020 (11 376 in total), and the largest number of domestic visitors were in 2017 (28 227). From the foreign visitors, the least were in 2020, and their number was only 1500 visitors, and the highest number of visits were in 2022, 6 725 in total. The number of overnight stays by domestic visitors were the lowest in 2020 (74 399 overnight stays), and the highest in 2017 (217 064 overnight stays). The number of overnight stays by foreign tourists were the lowest in 2020 (16 406 overnight stays), and the highest in 2019 (38 187 overnight stays). Conclusions: For the period from 2008 to 2022, the spas in the Republic of Macedonia are dominantly visited by domestic tourists. The percentage of domestic visitors is between 77% and 88%. The percentage of foreign visitors ranges from 12% to 23%. The percentage of overnight stays in the spas is also higher by domestic visitors, so in this 15 year period it ranges from 79% to 89%. The percentage of overnight stays by foreign visitors ranges between 11% and 21%.