Photo: The moment when The President Bush has "lost" his beautiful watch during the meeting with the people of Fushe Kruja

"The New York Times"
June 11, 2007, 1:12 pm

Can Bush Lead a Tourism Wave to Albania?

By Mike Nizza

Tags: europe, travel
President Bush got a wildly enthusiastic reception on Sunday in the Albanian town of Fusche Kruje, including the traditional head rub, above. (Photo: Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)
Reports about President Bush’s trip to Albania sounded more inviting than most tourism commercials (please see “So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?”).
As throngs of people packed streets to catch a glimpse of him, “wearing Uncle Sam top hats in the sweltering heat,” according to The Times, the prime minister welcomed him as “the greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times.”
And there’s even more good news for American tourists looking for a good time in Europe: It’s also quite cheap.
At the end of 2006, The Times named the country its “Budget Destination of the Year,” touting its 15-euro dinners, 30-euro hotel rooms and afforadable prices for “untold treasures for the intrepid.”
The capital of Tirana “is a fantastic starting point,” Matt Gross wrote. “But it’s the southern part of this Balkan country that holds the most intriguing sights and bargains.”
Still, Albania claims only 0.1 per cent of tourism in Europe, according to Toronto’s Globe and Mail, with the “tourism wave was still a while off.”
Why? The poor nation is still far behind in terms of infrastructure. Roads are shoddy, electricity is shifty and hotels are in short supply. More details from the Globe and Mail:
Albania still lacks the structures for mass tourism, but it is building wherever it can, with scant regard for water supply or sewage.
Along the winding roads from Sarande to Butrint, visitors can see bulldozers carving square sites out of rocky hillsides.
In one Sarande spot, the smell of sewage wafts into a bar with the sea breeze.
“The blame falls squarely on the state for not keeping ahead of individuals’ desire to build,” Sarande writer Agim Mato said. But luckily, he said, the tourism wave was still a while off.
“Albania’s tourism is for the daring,” he added.
Daring souls will go whenever their wanderlust strikes them, but for everyone else, Lonely