| dc.description.abstract | This thesis discusses the local experiences and attitudes towards tourism promotion and tourists in Skopje. In the past few years, the Macedonian government has implemented the project Skopje 2014 to attract more tourists to the city. At the same time the number of tourists increased. It is, however, questioned by the population if the project caused the increase. The findings that are discussed are based on ten weeks of fieldwork, conducted between the 5th of February and the 16th of April. The aim of the research was to find out how the population of Skopje experiences the changes made to the city to attract tourists and how they feel about the increasing number of tourists. One of my goals was to find out what circumstances and effects influence the attitudes of local population. This was done by including both people who work in the tourism sector and people work in other sectors. The effects were divided into promotion policy, economic development and interactions. Another goal was to make the local people feel comfortable talking about, for them, sensitive subjects. It turned out that people in Skopje are very sceptic toward the government and at the same time do not express their criticism out of fear to be arrested. The main question of my thesis is; What are the attitudes of the population of Skopje regarding tourists and tourism promotion? . This research offers several explanations for the attitudes of the local population of Skopje.
The first way to explain the attitudes of the local population are tourism promotion policies. The most significant explanation is related to the project Skopje 2014. This project started around 2010 and was supposed to create a new look for the city that would attract more tourists. Attitudes towards the project are quite negative, because the population is critical about anything the government does. My informants expressed four main attitudes regarding the promotion policies. First, statues do not create tourism, contrary to what the government thought the project Skopje 2014 would do. The number of structures is experienced as an overload which created an image of being the capital of kitsch, Disneyland and mini-Vegas. Tourists are making fun of the current look of the city, this, in a way, works as tourism promotion. However, this was not how the government planned to increase tourism. The population also has other reasons why they are critical about the new look of the city. The structures do not represent Macedonian culture according to them. There are no references to the period of 500 years Ottoman rule, the Second World War and the independence of Macedonia in 1991. Instead they created sculptures of people that are not even known by the local population and recreate popular tourist destinations. The project resulted in approximately 136 buildings, statues and other structures and are almost all bad quality and thus cost a way too much. My informants stated that nearly all are unnecessary. The country and city already offered enough tourist activities before the start of Skopje 2014.
Despite the present cultural richness, the Macedonian government has invested millions of Euros in the project Skopje 2014. The local population is critical towards the economic growth it would generate, because it only benefits people who are employed in the tourism sector. The increase in tourism could provide new employment opportunities, however, these jobs are not promoted by the government and the people who are unemployed are not willing to take these jobs. Employment in the tourism sector asks for a lot of patience, because tourists can be very demanding. Besides, some positions are only available during the high season which leaves some people unemployed the rest of the year. People who work in other sectors do not experience much of the economic development resulting from the increase in tourism. Changes were only made to the city center of Skopje which is just a small part of the city. None of the other municipalities were included in the developments. Money could have been spent much better if it was invested in education and healthcare for example. Then it would benefit the complete population. Only recently the government started investing in public transport. This is important to minimize the air pollution which can scare tourists from coming to Skopje.
The local population is most positive about contact with tourists. Despite the increasing numbers, they never feel as if tourists are taking over the city. In comparison with other cities Skopje does not have a lot of tourists, however, the past few years there has been a steady increase. The population would like to see more tourists come to their city and they are very open to meet new people. Especially young people like to meet tourists, because this gives them the opportunity to learn about the rest of the world without travelling. Part of the population is surprised about tourists wanting to visit their city. This can be explained by the negative attitude towards their own country. Nevertheless, interacting with tourists is positive for an individual s development on different aspects of life. Having tourists come to Skopje makes the city more fun to live in. Interactions with tourists make the local population aware of their own situation in Macedonia in comparison to the rest of the world. Especially the younger generations would like to leave the country and improve their living standards. Tourism in Macedonia thus result in the immigration of the population. Finally, there is just one reason the local population is less positive towards tourists in their city. Skopje has a lot of street dogs and the local population would rather see them dead. However, the tourists like the dogs and feed them which prevents them from dying.
All attitudes depend on the personality and the daily life of the people that were part of the research. However, it can be concluded that the local population was more positive when they could benefit from tourism, preferably directly. Overall, the local population is more critical about tourism promotion and the economic development the increase of tourism is supposed to generate. It is more difficult for the population to create benefit from tourism promotion. Besides, employment in the tourism sector is not experienced as truly beneficial. Towards tourists as people, attitudes are more positive. Interactions can benefit anyone who is open to meet tourists." | |
