Tourism: Albania hopes to build on record growth

15/06/2011

Despite the country's ongoing political tensions, the tourism industry is banking on a repeat of last year's crowds.

By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Tirana – 15/06/11

Albania is hoping to attract waves of tourists. [Ana Pekmezi/SETimes]

It was a banner year for tourism: Albania had about 3.5 million visitors last year, a whopping 32% increase over previous years. Authorities are happily anticipating more of the same.

"Our expectations are based on the improvements we have done in infrastructure and improvements of the tourist environment in general," Endri Jorgoni, chief of cabinet in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, tells SETimes. "However," he acknowledges, "the political situation might have a negative impact on that".

Lack of infrastructure, including inadequate road connections to the most popular attractions, is one of the main problems hampering the country from realizing its tourism potential, Jorgoni said. The government, he added, is seeking to boost investment in the sector and has drafted new legislation to that effect.

Dritan Xhengo, 35, has been operating a tourist agency in Tirana for eight years now. It offers everything from tickets and packages to travel insurance.

"So far, so good," he says about tourism this year, though he agrees that Albania's turbulent politics could impact the number of visitors. Still, he adds, the industry has seen "extraordinarily positive change" compared to a few years ago.

Most of Western tourists prefer study tours, cultural tourism, and archaeology. Many come from Britain, Italy, Finland and Denmark. "Albania is cheap for them," says Xhengo.

Meanwhile, as more and more visitors come to Albania, Albanians themselves are going abroad for their holidays.

Albania still "exports" more tourists than it "imports", Xhengo said. The reasons, he added, include the comparatively low level of services in Albania, and an eagerness to see other cultures in Europe.............................

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/15/feature-02