Pelister's tourism potential constrained by outdated infrastructure

Molika fir forests, rock streams, and the two glacial lakes — Big and Small Lake — remain the signature natural features of Pelister mountain. These assets are drawing growing numbers of foreign visitors, yet local tourism development is being held back by old infrastructure and limited accommodation.

“We entered the National Park three days ago. So far this is a very nice experience, the park is fantastic, really beautiful and well maintained,” said Lorenzo, a tourist from Italy, who visited the area.

Locals and experts say nature alone is not enough to keep visitors longer. Pelister lacks larger lodging capacity and several facilities that would allow seasonal tourism to expand.

Access and accommodation are the bottlenecks

“Pelister has many reasons to be visited. Pleasant climate, conditions for skiing, recreation; unfortunately, 10 years since Kopanki burned, it still has not been rebuilt. The children's holiday camp once hosted more than 300 children. Pelister should be made more accessible,” said hiker Petar Stavrev.

Road access is another persistent problem. The single carriageway from Bitola to Pelister is narrow and in poor condition.

“The road infrastructure from Bitola to neighbouring towns and to Pelister is tragicomic, it is like after the bombing in the First World War,” said tourism worker Goran Pinza.

Pelister National Park is, meanwhile, creating new offers for active tourism. “We have shown that with several new hiking trails, a cycling trail, clearing and re-marking of mountain paths. To date this is a total length of more than 80 to 90 kilometres, and we will not stop here,” said Ivancho Toshevski, director of Pelister National Park.

Toshevski also warns that growth must not damage the fragile ecosystem. “We will probably be the first area on the Balkans to actively work on confronting the old molika fir forest and the whole Pelister ecosystem with climate change,” he said, stressing the need to balance development and nature conservation.

Pelister has clear attractions for more visitors, but authorities and stakeholders say improving access, rebuilding lost capacity and upgrading services are necessary if tourism is to grow sustainably without harming the mountain’s environment.

Photo: press material from the event