Tourism and hospitality have a significant contribution to the domestic economy, but despite the positive socio-economic impacts that these activities have, they are still most sensitive to external influences such as the current case caused by the global pandemic, according to the Association of Chambers of Commerce of Macedonia.
The spread of the virus has limited people’s movement, leading to changes in people’s daily living habits for travel and social activities in general.
The tourism and hospitality sector is most affected by the current crisis, where the losses of many legal entities were and still are 100 percent. The first blow was that the crisis started at the very beginning of the season when all borders were closed.
“This sector has found itself in a situation of a period of inactivity to enter a period of restrictions. There was a slight improvement in the situation in the summer, when some entities managed to reduce their loss, but on an annual basis, no profit or cost recovery was achieved. The only reduction in losses was achieved. Equally damaged are hotels, travel agencies, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, car rental companies, which have high fixed costs due to the nature of their business, whether they work or not,” said Association head Vladimir Gramatikov.
