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ECONOMIC CHAMBER OF MACEDONIA

years bsi. ISO
9001
1922 - 2016 Quality
Management

СТОПАНСКА КОМОРА НА МАКЕДОНИЈАFS549642

Osnovana 1922

ECONOMIC CHAMBER OF MACEDONIA

Founded 1922

PREVENTING UNFAIR COMPETITION IN TOURISM TO STRENGTHEN

ITS ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL IMPACT IN THE COUNTRY Catering Industry and Tourism Association

Members of the Tourism and Hospitality
Association within the Economic Chamber
of Macedonia alert to unfair competition
plaguing the tourism sector; these practices
feed the expansion of the grey economy
through one-man companies and harm the
country’s reputation. Complaints that foreign
guests make to tour operators and hotels,
especially during peak season, are detrimental
to the image of every tourist destination.
“Another problem is that some tourist guides
work independently on the market. They
either have directly connections to foreign
visitors, or come together with a group of
foreign visitors. These tourist guides are not
supervised in any way, and no one knows what
exactly they present or say to foreign visitors,”
said Daniela Mihajlovska Vasilevska of the
Economic Chamber of Macedonia at a press
conference of the Tourism and Hospitality Association on 9 September 2016.

In order to address this problem, in July 2016 the Association submitted a request urging competent authorities to take
coordinated actions and eliminate unfair competition based on the ‘one-man’ travel agencies. The request was sent
to the State Market Inspectorate, the State Labor Inspectorate, the Public Revenue Office, the Inspection Supervision
Department - Inspectorate of Ohrid Municipality, the Mayor of Ohrid Municipality, the Mayor of Struga Municipality,
and the Border and Migration Affairs Division within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Association expected these
institutions to take action and remove practices that have negative influence on tourism in Macedonia and the economy
in general.

The State Market Inspectorate responded to the official request and held several meetings with members of the
Association. The Inspectorate informed the Association that they acted on the request and conducted field controls and
inspections.

Mr. Slave Siracevski, Deputy President of the Association, pointed out several areas where unfair competition was
especially problematic as it led to practices typical for the grey economy. The areas deemed most susceptible to unfair
practices include:

- Sports clubs, culture and art clubs and other institutions that organize trips abroad by themselves, which is against
the law and harms the work of travel agencies;

- Some travel agencies on the market, which have obtained licence ‘A’ but have failed to maintain the level for which
the licence had been granted in the first place, but nevertheless continue to operate as if they still held a licence ‘A’
when, in fact, they have a licence ‘B’. There is no supervision to prevent this from occurring;

- Transportation providers organize travels and tours abroad, which is against the law;
- Foreign tour operators organize tours in Macedonia by themselves, with no Macedonian intermediary involved -

not even a tourist guide. Such cases have been noticed with tourists coming from Bulgaria, Greece, among other
countries.
- In some cases, foreign tour operators hire domestic tourist guides, who organize the accommodation. Only cash
payments are made so as to avoid tax payments;
- A number of apartments rented throughout Macedonia are not registered and are rented to foreign tourists. In this
case, taxes remain unpaid.
The Association will initiate the introduction of amendments and addenda to the Law on Tourism so as to pave the way
for better order in tourism-related activities and operations that are in line with the Law.

Daniela Mihajlovska Vasilevska
Catering Industry and Tourism Association

October 2016 85