As of 2018, Macedonia will re-brand as a travel destination, said Agency for Promotion and Support of Tourism (APST) director Aleksandar Donev on Monday.
Donev told reporters during the promotion of European travel guide “In Your Pocket” that current promotion of the country does not follow trends, while brand “Macedonia Timeless” has been exhausted.
Project “Platform for Solo Travelers”, which will refer to tourists who want to create their tour and organize their stay in Macedonia by themselves, will be launched next year.
“We are planning to re-brand Macedonia as a travel destination at the onset of 2018, because there is a great necessity for this. We need a fresh brand that will communicate the real potentials of Macedonia as a travel destination. This, of course, means a change in the content, which unfortunately does not follow trends”, said Donev.
According to him, the concept would be altered entirely, taking into account that prior tourism-related national strategies were mainly developed by foreign consultancies, which refrained from collaborating with local tourism workers.
Donev said “In Your Pocket” fills a current gap in Macedonian tourism.
“We lack offer of activities that a tourist coming to Skopje, Ohrid, Bitola and Macedonia in general can practice, whereas the guide is an excellent opportunity for this”, he added.
The first issue of “In Your Pocket” for Skopje, also including Ohrid and Bitola was released in 20,000 copies this June, distributed at numerous locations across these cities. It can also be used as a mobile app, downloaded from https://www.inyourpocket.com/skopje. The second issue is expected in December.
In Your Pocket is Europe’s leading provider of urban information, supplying locally produced, practical information for over one hundred cities all over the region, available at the travel portal www.inyourpocket.com and in more than 70 publication guide books, published in 23 countries. In Your Pocket’s lively, honest style has received consistent praise from, among others, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, the Sunday Times, the BBC, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet.
