The main attractions of Ohrid, as the most popular tourist destination in Macedonia, are well known to both local visitors and tourists from neighbouring countries. World Heritage sites are really well promoted by local travel agencies, but the wider destination of the Ohrid, Struga and Prespa region also abounds with sites of natural and cultural significance, which are not sufficiently promoted and marketed.
Those so-called hidden gems, such as a small rural community, a craftsman in a remote mountain village, a housewife who prepares authentic recipes for visitors, and a host of others – are the ones who create added value to enrich the visitors’ tourist experience. Such attractions are not included in the traditional promotional materials and the lack of a place where this “hidden” knowledge can be reached, results in many of them staying out of the visitors’ horizon.
The tourist destination of the Ohrid, Struga and Prespa region abounds with sites of natural and cultural significance, which have not been sufficiently promoted and marketed. Information about them is so deeply hidden among locals that it is almost inaccessible to a tourist outside the region or abroad.
There is no information about authentic rural communities, craftsmen or home cooks either in traditional promotional materials or online. Also, information regarding various events, attractions, activities and sites in and around the destination is limited and uncoordinated. Visitors have a hard time accessing basic information, such as location directions, opening hours or entrance tickets, not to mention more sophisticated online tools such as event calendars, schedule/route generators, and so on.
And this is especially important today, because more and more independent, domestic, regional and international travellers come independently, and not organized through travel agencies.
The main goal of the subproject “Ohrid & Prespa 2 Go” is to fill all the gaps in informing about what the destinations Ohrid, Struga and Prespa offer to tourists, in order to increase the economic activity in those destinations. Through the Ohrid & Prespa2Go mobile application for Android and IOS phones and the web platform Lakes.mk, as an “all in one” travel guide for the selected destination, this subproject aims to deal with the limited online content for promotion and information at the destination level. The subproject will help raise awareness of the destination, but more importantly, increase the motivation of travelers to explore the region and its hidden treasures more deeply once they arrive.
Ohrid & Prespa2Go is a pocket travel guide for Android and iOS, built to help visitors better organize their stay in the Ohrid and Prespa Region and show them how to get the most out of it. The application will be built on the basis of a database of over 360 locations (cafes, clubs, restaurants, museums, historical sites, etc.), which will make it a perfect source of information for visitors to this destination.