Tourism in South East Europe

This chapter on tourism assesses the policy settings, strategies, processes, and institutions in six South East European economies. After a brief overview of trends and performance in developing tourism in South East Europe, including visitor numbers and growth, the chapter then focuses on five essential sub-dimensions. The first sub-dimension, cultural and natural resources, explores the existence of tourism strategies that draw upon the rich and varied natural assets and cultural characteristics of the area. The second, destination accessibility and tourism infrastructure, looks at efforts made to improve visa regimes, promote connectivity and infrastructure, provide relevant information, and improve the capacity and quality of visitor accommodation. The third sub-dimension, availability of a suitably qualified workforce, asks whether the economies have the capacity to balance tourism development with labour supply and demand. The fourth sub-dimension – safety and health – assesses visitors’ security and healthcare provision. Finally, the tourism prioritisation and promotion sub-dimension asks whether government action in these fields is guided by a strategy backed up by adequate data collection. The chapter includes suggestions for enhancing the policies in each of these sub-dimensions in order to allow tourism to become a vibrant and sustainable sector, which in turn would foster the competitiveness of these economies.