Albania ranked "must-visit" destination for 2013

Source: Ivan Radford

 
Albania, which this year celebrates its centenary of independence, has been named as a must-visit destination of 2013 with adventure holiday company 'G Adventures' adding the Balkan nation to next year's brochure for the first time and top travel bloggers ranking the country one of the Top 13 destinations for travel in 2013.'
Attracting over 4 million visitors last year and with arrivals up by 277,000 in the first nine months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, the outlook for Albania's tourism market is positive with the little known Balkan nation emerging as a fashionable destination to explore in 2013.
Indeed Aldo Bumci, Minister of Tourism in Albania, is committed to developing this lucrative sector (which accounted for 11% of GDP in 2011) and is currently drawing up a national strategy for coordinating tourism activities over the next 10 years which aims to ensure the sustainable long-term development of tourism in the country.
Visitors to Albania in 2013 will also be able to benefit from recent foreign direct investment into the country. World Bank financing has helped repair and construct over 1,700 km of rural roads and 1,300 km of national roads which has considerably improved accessibility across the land as well as bringing about brought positive changes in access to health, postal and banking services for the local population.
As has been witnessed in many other European countries, in tandem with tourism growth comes development of the real estate market and Albania is no exception. Those operating within this emerging marketplace such as Ravin Maharajah, Partner of Lalzit Bay Resort & Spa on the Adriatic coast, have seen an explosion of interest for new, western style quality properties in prime locations not least accelerated by the depreciation of the Euro which many developers sell properties. 
Ravin Maharajah comments: "The weakening of the Euro and general caution about investing within the Euro-zone has actually been advantageous for us. We have experienced an increase in UK and indeed Western European buyers wanting to take advantage of the amazing value properties at Lalzit Bay. Indeed Albania now being ranked by Forbes as one of the 'Best Countries of Business' has boosted buyer confidence further."