Network of electric vehicle charging stations as a measure for environmental protection and promotion of tourism in Macedonia

The relationship between transport and tourism development

Aleksandra Dogramadzieva CIVIC ASSOCIATION FOR THE APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES PURE ENERGY, SKOPJE

Contents

Tourism ...... 2 Traffic ...... 2 The situation in Macedonia and the neighbouring countries ...... 3 The relationship between transport and tourism development ...... 5 Socio-Economic Implications of Transport Developments that effect Tourism ...... 5 Environmental impact of transportation in the tourism industry ...... 6 The Role of the Local Community in Sustainable Tourism Development...... 6 Sustainable tourism development ...... 6 Tourism destinations in Macedonia ...... 7 Main tourism attractions in Macedonia ...... 7 Road infrastructure ...... 8 Network of electric vehicle charging stations as a measure for environmental protection and promotion of tourism in Macedonia ...... 9 Literature: ...... 11

Tourism Tourism is an important sector that has an impact on development of country economy. The main benefits of tourism are income creation and generation of jobs.

The ability of the national economy to benefit from tourism depends on the availability of investment to develop the necessary infrastructure and on its ability to supply the needs of tourists.

Macedonia has a touristic potential for development of mountain tourism, lake tourism, eco-tourism and other alternative forms of tourism.

The importance of the tourism sector is emphasized in national and regional strategies of republic of Macedonia. The sector’s policy framework comprises the National Tourism Strategy 2009-2015 (and its thematic sub strategies); the Law and Strategy for Regional Development 2009-2019; the Programs for Regional Development 2010-2015 for each of the eight planning regions; and the Program of the Government for the period 2014-2018. The Government, through the Ministry of Economy, has drafted a new National Tourism Strategy for 2016 onward.

Traffic The traffic is a sector that has a large share in the environmental pollution, and a particular action of degradation it has in the urban environment. Depending on the development of the motorization of one country, the air pollution from the traffic can be even up to 60% of the total pollution.

It is estimated that annually more than one billion people are exposed to the pollution of the outside air. The urban air pollution is associated with one million premature deaths each year. The urban air pollution is estimated to cost about 2% of GDP in the developed countries and 5% in the developing countries. The rapid urbanization results in an increase of the urban air pollution in the major cities, especially in the developing countries. Over 90% of air pollution in the cities in these countries is due to the emissions from the vehicles caused by the large number of older vehicles along with the maintenance of old vehicles, inadequate infrastructure and low fuel quality.

In the major cities of Macedonia, during the winter period, the situation is alarming. According to the monthly report of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning on the condition of the air pollution in November and December 2013, the pollution in Skopje, Tetovo, Bitola and Kichevo reached the maximum values of the pollution index, and in some places even 8 times and higher than the allowed values.

In the urban areas, the main emitters of pollution are the passenger vehicles, i.e. the internal combustion engines embedded in various vehicles. Regardless of the degree of combustion, they emit pollutants that pose a potential danger to the environment and human health, and at the same time they endanger the safety of traffic, as well.

The use of electric vehicles is a measure that will drastically reduce the pollution in urban areas, it will contribute to reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, higher exploitation of renewable energy sources, reduction of pollution and noise, and approximation to the European Union principles for a cleaner transportation. At present, almost every car manufacturer produces plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles. The interest in electric vehicles of all consumers, and especially those with higher environmental awareness, increases rapidly.

According to the survey that we have realized with the owners and employees in the automotive industry in Skopje, over 70% of people who plan to buy a vehicle think about buying or are interested in an electric vehicle in the future".

The first enthusiasts and users of electric vehicles are attracted to the benefits offered by the new technology with the power supply (via electricity chargers), which provides 10 times reduced costs for the autonomy of the vehicle, as well as reduced costs to maintain it.

The situation in Macedonia and the neighbouring countries The analyses of the growing urbanization, the problems with global warming, pollution and noise have imposed the need for comprehensive solutions for mobility. The sustainability efforts that commenced in the highly developed countries several years ago, and the commitment of the governments to transform the transport systems for the cities, are the main arguments according to which Macedonia and the neighbouring countries, although delay, undertake activities to introduce electromotive force for the urban centres.

Although there are not sufficiently developed networks of chargers for electrically powered vehicles in our region, by taking the measures and efforts of the governments to introduce the electro mobility (e- mobility), the situation alters.

Tirana, the capital of , is in the process of major urbanization, the number of inhabitant’s approaches from 250,000 inhabitants in 1990 to a million, a process that has brought about all the adverse effects of pollution in major cities because the spatial and transport policies have failed so far to match that growth. In Tirana there are 800 licensed taxis that produce 3,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide. There are 200,000 vehicles registered in Tirana, and in the city every day additional 60,000 vehicles enter from other areas. The modest steps by municipal authorities in Tirana to introduce e-mobility take place these days. On the Car-Free Day, on 22 September 2017, the municipality of Tirana introduced electric taxi vehicles for the first time. The mayor Erion Veljiai urged the citizens to prioritize their use of the electricity charged taxis, because this will reduce the air pollution in the Albanian capital. Also, it was announced the use of electric buses in the near future by the end of 2017. So far, there were 2 public electric vehicle chargers in Albania, according to https://openchargemap.org/site/poi .

According to the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, since 2011, since the new license plates have been issued in Serbia, a total of 114 electrically driven vehicles and 90 hybrid vehicles have been registered, which is the minimum number of electrically driven vehicles compared to the registered 1.8 millions of passenger cars. Whether there will be more electrically driven vehicles in Serbia certainly depends primarily on whether there will be built an infrastructure of a network of chargers. By the end of 2017 the first stations for charging electric vehicles are expected to function in Belgrade, as it was announced under the project "The Electric Vehicles and Development of the Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Serbia". The installation of chargers for electric vehicles on Corridor 10 is announced in the hotels of “Crown Plaza” and “In Hotel”, as well as in the dealer network of the Delta Company. The efforts of the government of Serbia to facilitate the realisation of this process are also through the facilitations regarding import and registration of electric vehicles, through non-payment of import taxes on vehicles that are exclusively electrically driven.

By comparison, in Slovenia, approximately 330 electric vehicles were registered by the end of 2016, and only in the first quarter of 2017, 111 new battery operated cars and 73 more hybrid-powered cars were registered. The market grew by 134% versus the same period last year.

Slovenia works hard to strengthen the necessary infrastructure for this type of vehicles. The charging stations for electric vehicles in Slovenia have been present since 2012, and at the moment the Slovenian network of chargers for electric vehicles has 225 chargers on publicly accessible surfaces, 26 of which are on the highways. By the end of the year, the number of chargers for electric vehicles is expected to grow to 500 chargers.

According to the data from the Vehicle Centre of Croatia, at the end of 2016 1843 hybrid cars were registered, 224 were electrically driven, and 445 were electric mopeds and bicycles. In Croatia it was built a network of public chargers for electric cars, but it is not sufficient for the smooth use of electric cars on the whole territory. There are public chargers in the bigger cities: Labin, Vukovar, Zadar and Zagreb. The Croatian power economy announces a soon construction of even more chargers in Zagreb and five in Koprivnica, by which they will be closer to the planned number of 2000 chargers by the year of 2020. Apart from investing in the infrastructure for building electric vehicle chargers, the Croatian government provides subsidies for the purchase of an electric car. During 2014 and 2015 the purchase of a total of 1428 electric vehicles was subsidized with 50 million kunas (both hybrid and electrically powered only).

And in Greece, the construction of infrastructure for chargers for electric vehicles is in its start. The progress of electrical mobility in Greece arises by the construction of infrastructure in the administrative area of Attica, whereby, in the spring of 2017, it was planned an installation of 120 charging stations. The efforts are part of the national policy framework for the development of alternative fuels, in order to have the regulatory and technical issues that limit the use of electric cars in the cities settled. Furthermore, the Greek government's plan encourages the private sector to install chargers on private land, as well as a gradual replacement of the vehicles with an internal combustion engine with electric vehicles.

According to the Bulgarian Electric Vehicle Association, the number of electric cars in Bulgaria in the beginning of 2017, compared to the previous years, increased by 50% and exceeds 800. Currently, there are 20 stations for charging electric cars in Sofia, and in the next two years, the municipality of Sofia will build additional 80 stations for charging electric cars.

The Bulgarian company based in Sofia, eMobility International, announced in April 2017 that it opened its first electric vehicle fast charging station (EV) in the city of Blagoevgrad, in south-western Bulgaria. The launch of the station in Blagoevgrad marks the beginning of the second phase of the construction of a national network planned by the company. eMobility International operates under the Eldrive brand in Southeast Europe through building and managing an infrastructure for charging stations for electric vehicles. eMobility International has 23 charging stations in Bulgaria. By the end of 2017, an investment is planned for the construction of about 500 places for charging electric cars in Bulgaria and the neighbouring countries.

In Macedonia there is still a small number of users of electric vehicles (about 100) and a limited number of publicly available chargers for electric vehicles. From the experience so far from the countries where electric vehicles are used in a large percentage, the information is that per one electric vehicle, 1.5 chargers for electric vehicles are needed. The users usually charge their vehicles at home (every purchased electric vehicle goes with a charger), but also to a large extent in the shopping malls, workplaces or public car parking areas.

After buying an electric vehicle, especially in our country, the users face the first question - where and how to charge the car. For those users who have their own garage or parking area, most of the charging will be realized by the use of domestic electricity.

For those who do not have conditions to charge their cars in domestic conditions, and for everyone who transits through our country, the same will be done on publicly available chargers.

The situation of the entire region in which Macedonia and the neighbouring countries are in is drastically different with regard to the countries of the European Union. The map shows a detailed picture of the network of installed stations for charging vehicles on an electric drive (source: https://chargemap.com/map#)

The relationship between transport and tourism development The relationship between transport and tourism development is a vital area for development of any destination. Adequate and efficient transportation infrastructure and access to generating markets is one of the most important aspects.

According to Medliki1 transportation can be defined as “the means to reach the destination and also the means of movement at the destination”.

Socio-Economic Implications of Transport Developments that effect Tourism Developments in the transport sector improved social as well as economic conditions of the people.

Tourism impacts refer to the marked effect of tourism activities on the society, economy, local government and other stakeholders etc. which are frequently classified as social, economic, environmental and political. Tourism has an impact on the living standards of the host population especially that of a developing economy.

Developed transport networks have led to mass movements from rural areas to urban areas. This migration pattern had become more prominent during the eighties and nineties of the last century travel to far off places with ease.

They mingle with people of different regions. These interactions have developed a national split that binds the nation as a unique cultural entity (despite the differences in individual cultures and value systems).

1 S. Medilik Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality

Environmental impact of transportation in the tourism industry Transportation is essential for the tourism industry, and for the daily life of population; it represents the first manifestation of touristic consumption and is the only component of tourism industry that the tourist cannot do without. It ensures the travel between one’s home and the touristic destination or other facilities specific to the tourism activity. Besides all other beneficial gifts of transport development, there are some negative implications also. These are in the field of environment. The development of tourism and the increase in the number of travelers at the level of certain areas of touristic interest brings socio-economic benefits and also leads to the damaging of the quality of the environment. Transportation, as component of the tourism industry, has many side effects on the environment due to carbon dioxide emissions, pollution, etc. Pollution creates problems in all parts of the country. Global warming, ecological imbalances and decay of fauna and flora are directly related to movements of human beings.

The Role of the Local Community in Sustainable Tourism Development Tourism has political, economic, social and cultural influences on the host communities; on the political level and international relations, tourism plays a role in political socialization because it is a subculture of the community culture. On the economic side, tourism is an important source of hard currency and creating jobs to reduce unemployment. Tourism also has varied influences in social and cultural tourism. It is a kind of cultural friction between different people and it facilitates the transmission of ideas, customs and new innovations from one society to another. Tourism is one of the most growing industries in the world after oil. Sustainable tourism development The world Tourism Organization (WTO) defined sustainable tourism development in 2004 as "tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is a perception that leads to management all resources in a way that could meet the economic, social and aesthetic needs with the preservation of cultural integration and life support systems ...” (https://www.wordtourism.orglsustainableconcepts )

The goals of sustainable tourism are conservation of the environment, natural resources and the heritage the community and can be reached by:

- Providing standards of environmental accounting and control over the environmental tourism. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 - The basic environment and the development of services in local communities ISSN (Online)2225- 0484 (Online) Vol.5, No.8, 2015 45. - Creating a climate for investment to provide income and work for the local community. - Developing the environmental awareness among tourists, workers and local communities.

Achieving compatibility between the needs of tourists and trends of citizens in order to achieve all the requirements of tourists is the main element of sustainable development. In turn, the local community in the regions of tourism development has goals seeking to achieve them such as the preservation the customs, traditions and heritage as well as maintain the ownership of the lands which are suitable for tourism development of the citizens by adapting long-term deeds of assignment and lease agreements, investing in tourism development taking into account the investment interests of private investors and the local population. Until now, there is no significant relationship between the environmental dimension of the local community and sustainable tourism development projects.

Tourism destinations in Macedonia The most popular tourism destinations in Macedonia are currently located at the lakes. All three lakes are situated directly at the boarder – Lake belongs to Macedonia and Albania, Lake Prespa to Macedonia, Albania and Greece and Lake Dojran to Macedonia and Greece

The most developed lakeside is at with a large number of tourism supra- and infrastructure facilities, followed by Lake Dojran. Lake Prespa is the least developed one. Demand is mainly generated during the summer months – Lake Ohrid as currently the only one generating significant international demand.

Lake Ohrid is one of the tourism highlights of Macedonia and an UNESCO World Heritage site. Also Lake Dojran attracts significant numbers of tourists during the summer months and improved its attractiveness recently. Lake Prespa, as the least developed one, is only of limited attractiveness for visitors at the moment.

Currently Macedonia has several smaller Mountain Resorts, mainly situated in the Western part of the country. The main travel motives for visitors of mountain resorts are activities like skiing/snowboarding, hiking, biking or enjoying nature. Macedonia currently offers several places with a skiing infrastructure – the biggest ones being Popova Shapka and Mavrovo, both situated in the Western part of the country) with several ski lifts and slopes, and the smaller skiing areas like the ones in Krusevo, Kopanki or Kozuf .

The local wineries realized the economic potential of wine tourism and started to create tourism products (e.g. wine tasting, restaurants, guided tours). There is a growing demand for wine tourism products – the majority of the visitors are domestic.

Several hot mineral water springs are currently used for health purposes - the majority of them are located in the North-eastern and South-eastern part of the country. Visitors of those treatment centres are mainly Macedonians, or Macedonians living abroad, with certain illnesses wanting to improve their health condition.

Main tourism attractions in Macedonia As Skopje and Lake Ohrid are the most popular tourism destinations in Macedonia, also the vast majority of the top ranked sights of Macedonia are situated in those two destinations.

Tourism attractions near Skopje are: Lake Matka, Vodno, Church of St. Panteleimon, Old Bazaar, The Stone Bridge, Macedonia Square, Millennium Cross, Holy Savior Church, Memorial House of Mother Teresa, Church of St. Clement of Ohrid, Museum of Macedonian Struggle, Mustafa Pasha Mosque, National Archaeological Museum.

Tourism attractions near Ohrid and Struga are: St. Jovan Kaneo, Monastery of , Saint Sophia, Tsar Samuel‘s Fortress, Sveti Kliment Ohridski, National Workshop for Handmade Paper, Bay of the Bones Museum, Church of Our Lady Perivlepta, Plaoshnik, River Drim in Struga. Other atractions in the country are Kokino Observatory, National Park Galicica, Painted Mosque Sarena Dzamija (Tetovo), Monastery St. Jovan Bigorski (Gostivar), National Park Pelister, Heraclea (Bitola), Shirok Sokak Street (Bitola). Cultural manifestation: Vevchani Carneval, Trimeri – Carneval in Strumica, , , King Marko Fortress.

Natural attractions: Koleshino Waterfall, Smolare Waterfall, Peshna Cave, Vrelo Cave), natural monuments Kuklici.

Road infrastructure The road infrastructure, which is planned, managed and maintained by the Public Enterprise for State Roads, is well-developed in Macedonia with a total length of more than 14.000 kilometres of motorways, national, regional and local roads. There are currently 242 km of motorways and a further enlargement of the motorway network is currently under construction (A2 between Gostivar and Ohrid) or planned. With the existing road infrastructure all parts of the country are easy accessible and the main roads are in general in a good shape, while local roads, especially to certain remote places, can be in a bad condition.

At the moment there is no network of chargers of electric vehicle charging stations placed on the main roads. The process of construction an electric vehicle charge network throughout the country, emphasizing the connection of the north and south border crossings is the challenge that should be realized in next few years.

The construction of the charger network will be direct access for Macedonia into the transiting map of the electric vehicle drivers of Europe.

Network of electric vehicle charging stations as a measure for environmental protection and promotion of tourism in Macedonia

Creation of an Infrastructural environment-frindly system for electric vehicle charging stations will include the development of the potentials and the connections in several economic fields in the region, primarily in tourism, electric mobility and environment protection.

The destinations’ tourist evaluation, the permanent improvement of communication capacities, the accessibility of the tourist offer towards the demand, the development and the differentiation of separate tourist services are the initial basis of the project.

In general the current main tourism attractions of Macedonia can be divided into two groups – natural attractions and cultural sights (like churches, monasteries or museums).

As mention above, many of tourist attractions are located in the natural areas, National parks and alongside lakes. Emissions from present modes of transport, from cars, motorcycles, buses and leisure vehicles are increasing problem of pollution, disturbance of ecosystems by traffic jams and sound pollution.

The planned network of electric vehicle will actively contributes to the inclusion into the Edison project (eco driving innovating solutions and network) which includes electrification of the region by launching an electric vehicle charger infrastructure, also announced at the business Summit 100.

By targeting the travelers (segments) ready to spend more time and money, as well as to indulge in enjoying in less popular natural and cultural attractions outside Ohrid and Skopje, Macedonia can increase its positive socio-economic effect on tourism and achieve more balanced development.

From a logistic point of view, the reliability of the charging infrastructure is defined as a selection of at least one location within the framework of the driving range of electric vehicles, with the purpose to eliminate the shortage of electric vehicles due to the said restricted driving range compared to vehicles operating on liquid fuels. In order to take into account all the incidents that may occur in reality and influence the driving range of the electric vehicles, as are for example: battery undercharge, driving style and the driver’s habits, the mobility, road, configuration, air conditioning in the vehicle etc., an unpredictable distance has been included as an additional component of the initial driving range of the electric vehicle, which has its own probability of incidence.

The analysis of the influence of the unpredictable distance on the final optimal proposal plan of the installation of the charging infrastructure conditioned the choice of micro locations that will harbor the electric bicycle and car chargers.

The shortcoming in branding and access to information for the tourism attractions will be overcome through the charger network information system, which offers website indication of the locations on which the chargers will be located, and an easy access to information for visitors through a mobile application which is part of the network information system.

The rapid development of internet, especially in the last two decades, has brought remarkable change in the consumers’ behavior, which has huge influence on tourism, especially in the part regarding the searching of information about where to go and stay. Thus, the internet, as well as the electronic social networks, have an important influence on tourism through their online offer on numerous products and services. Web has become a leading source of information, especially important in the times of increased competition on the tourist market.

The individual EV users interface will include an application (Android and IOS) for smart telephones which will facilitate the access to the services.

Through the application adapted for smart phones, the users will be able to reserve and unlock a charger station appropriate for their vehicle. They will be able to receive information on the structure and the prices on that same charger station.

The web site, which is also a part of the network will offer additional online presence of the tourist and hospitability facilities and their internet marketing promotion, through an interactive map displaying the geo locations and the url address of each facility. The accessibility of information and directions to the attractive tourist sites, activities and localities at and around the destination will be a benefit for the visitors to the destination, provided for through the mobile application.

The web site and the mobile application will offer more benefits for the visitors to the region as are: the easy navigation – the visitors receive a route (or several directions) from the actual location towards in front of the tourist facility where the chargers are installed; reputation – the presence of the facility on the Google Map offers the visitors the reliability for contacts; availability – the visitors see the working hours, the contact telephone number or the e-mail address of the tourist facility where the chargers are installed; more dynamic traffic due to greater number of visitors and increased exposure of the tourist facility.

In the building of the network infrastructure will be used several types of electric vehicle chargers: ultra- quick charging, quick and slow charging stations. The categorization of the charging stations should be done due to the location specificity. The quick charging stations will be installed on locations such as: parking lots in front of sports centers, restaurants etc., while the slow-charging ones will be located in front of hotels and tourist accomodation facilities. The ultra-quick chargers are used for charging of vehicles outside of urban areas which do not allow for any longer stay and they will be located on regional roads.

The expected results of the finished charger infrastructure besides development of eco-tourism are the following: better conservation of ecosystems and natural resource management, maintain and enhance (more and better) job opportunities, increased awareness of the importance of environment protection, increased mix of tourists from different regions or countries as well as improved and expanded facilities and infrastructure for residents .

Literature:

- National Tourism Strategy Republic Of Macedonia - S. Medilik Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality - Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN (Paper)2224-5766, ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online) Vol.5, No.8. - Source: World Trade Organization, https://www.wto.org - Source: www.macedonia-timeless.com - Source: Tripadvisor - Source: chargemap.com

i S. Medlik Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality