TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA IN THE PERIOD 1991-2021

The Republic of North Macedonian tourism development in the past 3 decades is characterized by oscillations caused as a result of different external and internal socio-economic and political conditions. Although the tourism development recorded a continuous increase in the analysed time frame, the whole period was characterized by constant challenges, limitations and threats while at the same time the competition got higher. In this context, the purpose of the paper is to present the main characteristics of tourism development in the The Republic of North Macedonia for the period 1991-2021.This research was designed according to defined tourism indicators with the aim to determine the causes and consequences of changes in tourism development. This will allow defining future strategic courses of action for increasing the level of the country’s tourism competitiveness. For this purpose, quantitative, qualitative and comparative approaches were applied in order to draw appropriate conclusions The research findings show that tourism in the analysed period played a rather small role in the country’s employment, investments and exports, while its share in the overall economic development is presented by an average of only 2,1% in the GDP. Hence, tourism is still not being recognized as an important driver of the country’s economic development. The gained research results are a good basis for conducting similar analyses related to Macedonia's opportunities for tourism development. The obtained findings will contribute to the widening of knowledge about the characteristics of tourism development in The Republic of North Macedonia.