The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the Tourist Turnover in the Republic of North Macedonia

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the international arrival of tourists in 2019 has reached the number of 1.5 million. Every 10th person in the world is employed in the tourist sector. According to the statistical data in the Republic of North Macedonia, the tourist turnover has been continuously on the rise year after year (State Statistical Office, 2019). The international tourism is especially “sensitive” to influences such as war conflicts, terrorism, natural disasters and catastrophes, as well as the spread of various diseases, to name a few. The impact of epidemics from contagious diseases on the international tourism is known from earlier, such as the cases of swine flu, bird flu, SARS, and others (Henderson, 2003). The COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) back in December 2019 (ongoing today) made the overall economies stagnant. The tourist sector has been especially affected as a result of the restricted travels causing a health concern. UNWTO foresees tourism decline of about 20-30% in 2020 compared to 2019 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis (https://www.unwto.org). This paper researches the question of what is the situation like in the tourist turnover in Macedonia in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourist turnover was analyzed and compared in the period starting January concluding September 2020, with the same time range the year before, 2019. This paper used secondary sources of data through consulting the relevant literature in tourism and hospitality related to the COVID-19 pandemic.