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FINAL REPORT FOR PROJECT RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AS AN ALTERNATIVE

INCOME FOR MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN ARMENIA, GEORGIA, MACEDONIA AND SERBIA (Macedonia)

OCTOBER 2011 - OCTOBER 2012 MACEDONIA, October, 2012 CONTENT I. Introduction II. Goals, Outcomes and Impact of the project

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Introduction The project Rural tourism as an alternative income for marginalized communities in Armenia, Georgia, Macedonia and Serbia is a joint initiative of the four 2010-2011 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows from above mentioned countries and primary goal is to foster development of rural tourism in respective countries. The project implementation started on October 1, 2011 in four countries with realization of the first of its several key activities: by reading materials that are in correlation with rural tourism and collection of the data for desk research in each of the countries.

For the fulfillment of this phase, project team leaders in four countries worked individually to complete the data gathering, assessment of the information gathered and writing of the desk research.

The desk research finished in December 2011 and updated in September 2012 with completion of the desk research in each of the countries. Then, team members of the project approached to the second phase of the project and that is concluding the questionnaires with tourist agencies and further the interviewing process to collect data and information in the field in the municipalities and villages in rural area.

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II. Goals, Outcomes and Impact of the Project

First, shortly on the key activities those were written in the

project when it was submitted for State Alumni Innovation Engagement Innovation Found. The key activities to be implemented are the following: ●Conduct a joint survey ● Meeting of the four leading project ● Develop a multimedia web-site and joint brochure ● Promote the project The following are results and outcomes of the desk research, questionnaires with tourist agencies and ongoing interviewing and collecting the information on the field in Macedonia related to the activities of the implementation of Rural tourism development project. The main data and findings from desk research in Macedonia ate the moment of conducting it was:

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II. 1 General Economy Data

1. Macedonia is a small country and economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $9.8 billion;

2. Services sector is becoming increasingly important, accounting for more than 45%;

3. The poverty rate varied from around 10 percent in the sought west region to more than 30 percent in the northwest region;

4. The National Strategy on Tourism data shows that 3,1 % of the country’s GDP in 2008 came from tourism. The predictions are that in 2013 it will reach 3,4% of the country’s GDP.

Following the conclusions and information the team members presented in their desk research, short findings and info on each country was presented in the State Alumni Web site by posting on the blog space for created on this site for projects of Annual Engagement Innovation Found.

Than in early 2012 team leaders in each of the countries discussed and created by giving suggestions for questionnaires designed specially for this project the collect the opinions of several randomly chosen tourist agencies concerning rural tourism development. The questionnaires survey consisted by fourteen different questions was already conducted in Macedonia with seven agencies, among them six private and with the State Agency for promotion and development of tourism in Macedonia.

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II. 2 FIELD INTERVIEWS, TAKING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

This phase of the project started recently after designing new

questionnaires in the spring and preparing new questions for taking the survey on the field with inhabitants in rural area, mayors in the municipalities or owners of rural tourism sites. The plan is to visit five Municipalities and six to seven villages in different parts in the country to collect necessary data from the filed and to hear and write what the local communities think is necessary to develop rural tourism in the country or in their area of living. This phase should be concluded until the end of July. After it, the team members of four countries included in the project will schedule outcome. In Macedonia the visit were paid to eight municipalities. The data collected with the survey envisaged the strength, possibilities or weaknesses for rural tourism development. Although it is early to speak on general data and outcome of the project or how the project can change the attitude and create visible impact, it will be necessary to underline need to foster mutual communication among all actors included in rural tourism development. For multimedia Web site and joint brochure over 1000 photos are taken in Macedonia till know and video is shoot to support and give more lively approach to the project and promote, although at the same time to witnessed and notify what else should be invested in opportunities for rural tourism development.

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This phase of the project started at the end of June and was

consisted of travel to rural areas in Macedonia after first contacts with responsible for local economy development at eight municipalities in Macedonia. The visits of the villages were mostly on suggestions from officials from local municipalities.

The visits to the villages were in order to fill the questionnaires for local municipalities and inhabitants developed especially for the project Rural tourism as alternative income for marginalized communities. Data and findings of the questionnaire are summarized in one word document and those data and stories later are uploaded on the multimedia Web page. Shooting of photos and videos was part of this segment of project.

They will be not only the document of the way of life at this

moment in the villages, but great base to create stories and videos for the web page. The concept of the stories is related to people and their bonds with villages. Some of them returned from cities to live there and some stayed in rural areas to continue life in these beautiful parts of Macedonia.

• Festival of organic food in Skopje – November 2011; • Snow board competition – Mountain Vodno - February 2012; • Tourism fair in Skopje – April 2012; • Kayaking competition – March 2012; • Contact list with over 40 contacts on rural tourism, individual

farmers, wine sites, agencies and various related contacts; • One interview with Macedonian National Radio – the project

was announced that is under the phase of implementation in four countries and what is its goal – May 2012

LIST OF VISITED COMMUNITIES IN MACEDONIA JUNE – JULY 2012

• Municipality of Resen (Villages of Ljubojno and Brajcino); • Ohrid and Struga municipalities (Villages of Kalishta i

Vevcani) ; • Municipality of Zrnovci (Village of Zrnovci) ; • Municipality of Saraj (Canyon Matka);

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• Municipality of Mavrovo and Rostusha (villages of Galicnik and Duf);

• Municipality of Strumica (Village of Gabrovo) ; • Interviewed 16 people (local municipalities officials and

inhabitants involved already in rural tourism development or consider it to begin.

II.3 OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT IN MACEDONIA: Writings

• Desk research on Macedonia • Definition of question and team design of the questionnaires for tourist agencies and municipalities; • Survey assessment on tourism agencies and rural tourism – article; • Municipalities and inhabitants information and stories on villages; • Summarizing in word findings of questionnaires with Tourist Agencies; • Summarizing and writing data and stories on villages and municipalities from villages questionnaires; • Writing scripts the stories; • Interim and Final Report on the project activities in Macedonia • Writing story/article on Switzerland experience in rural tourism. The story is uploaded on the common Web page under section news.

Design:

• Designing the national brochure to add as part of the common brochure of the project; • Submission to the team suggestions for project logo and copy for the project logo; • Created and shoot 5092 photos and videos from filed trips to the villages;

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New Media

• Created VIMEO CHANNEL Fresh AIR Macedonia;

https://vimeo.com/user13039480 • Created VUVOX CHANNEL Fresh AIR Macedonia for

pictures of villages’ (http://www.vuvox.com/my_vox/show/0651c31559 )

• Created You Tube Channel Fresh Air Macedonia;

(http://www.youtube.com/user/freshairmacedonia?feature=results_main)

• Creation of FB and Twitter profiles for the project

http://www.facebook.com/tourismrural.rural; @tourismrural

• Posting in Dukovska photography FB page pictures of

villages and sites of Macedonia; • Uploading on the common Web page

http://www.tourismrural.com • Preparing and uploading three slide shows in Flash for the

Web page (Ohrid, Matka and Switzerland)

Editing

• Photo editing of photos for video stories; • Editing and post - production of video stories for the

multimedia Web page (eleven video stories produced and uploaded in the Web page under the section for Macedonia;

• Photo editing for materials uploaded in the Web page • Audio editing for posting audio material from Switzerland

(short interview with Oliver von Allmen) http://audioboo.fm/boos/1025620-oliver-von-almen-agrotourismus-swiss

Promotion

• Presentation of the project on the Morning radio program on Macedonian Radio – Radio Skopje (June and August

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2012 with plans for another presentation at the end of October with audio materials from the field trips –TBD);

• Possible presentation to other media outlets; • Presentation of the findings to part of interviewed

professionals; • Contacts with the media for further presentation of the

project outcomes;