Foreign tourists shun Macedonia

Macedonia has good reasons to be a popular tourist destination - historical sites, churches and monasteries, beautiful nature, good food and wine, and Ohrid, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Grasping the country's potential appeal to international tourists, the Macedonian authorities have spent a lot of money on TV commercials, aired on foreign channels.

But TV spots only show the country's best face - and keep quiet about the less pleasant experiences that will confront visitors to Macedo...