Tourists’ Perception: the Case of Ohrid, Macedonia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the factors that affect tourists on creating their images and perceptions while experiencing Ohrid, the most famous tourist destination in Macedonia. In this regard, the presence and affection of five factors was investigated: (i) Perception of place; (ii) Pull motives; (iii) Perception of safety; (iv) Type of experience; and (v) Fulfilled expectations. The analysis was based on face-to-face survey conducted with 500 tourists in June-August 2016. Generally, the findings indicate many suggestions and recommendations for tourism-policy makers. Towards the perception of the place, tourists found the sampled locations to be historic, legendary and religious places, which do not serve just as tourist places for sightseeing. As for the pull factors, the cultural heritage was perceived as attraction that brought tourists to the surveyed locations. Towards the perception of safety, Ohrid and Macedonia were perceived as fully safe and secure for tourism. Based on Cohen's (1979) classification of tourists, the results revealed that recreational tourists are the dominant group visiting Ohrid, followed by the existential, experiential, and experimental types of tourists, while the diversionary tourists were virtually absent. Finally, the surveyed tourists found highly fulfilled expectations evaluating Ohrid as destination worth visiting which gave a value to their money. The findings in this study may serve as a valuable starting point in creating new strategic approaches that may support tourism development in Ohrid and Macedonia.

Tourism Development of Ohrid (North Macedonia)

“…The low-budget airlines has helped attract young travelers wishing to discover Ohrid as a new destination. According to [28], such newcomers make up one-third of the tourism demand for Ohrid. In this way, as noted by [7], individual mass tourism has slowly shifted to organized mass tourism.…”

From a town to an attraction: the transformation of Ohrid, North Macedonia

“…Ohrid to learn something about its culture (Petrevska, 2019). Unlike in the second sub-period, when there were serious hesitations about visiting Ohrid, the city is currently perceived as a completely safe and secure tourist destination (Petrevska, 2019).…”

“…Ohrid to learn something about its culture (Petrevska, 2019). Unlike in the second sub-period, when there were serious hesitations about visiting Ohrid, the city is currently perceived as a completely safe and secure tourist destination (Petrevska, 2019). On the other hand, Ohrid's urban shape has been slowly transformed, with once purely residential districts being almost fully transformed into entertainment areas with substantial tourism and hospitality enterprises.…”

“…The operation of low-budget airlines has helped attract young travelers wishing to discover Ohrid as a new destination. According toPetrevska (2019), such newcomers make up one-third of the tourism demand for Ohrid. In this way, as noted byCohen (1972), individual mass tourism has slowly shifted to organized mass tourism.…”