260.000 Macedonian tourists visit Albania

TIRANA, Sep 15 – Albania turned into a good summer destination for neighboring Macedonians.
During this year the Macedonian tourists for the first time took the number one spot on the list of ‘most visits’ by foreigners to Albania.
In the first eight months this year, out of 2.8 million foreign tourists to Albania, 262,000 were from Macedonia. Right behind Macedonia were tourists from Kosova, and third Montenegro.
Up until this year, Kosovo tourists held the number one spot for most visits. Albania has also seen an increase of visitors from European nations, the most from Italy, Greece, and Germany. Many of them, or better say, almost all of them are ethnic Albanian, or Albanian immigrants returning to their homeland for vacations.
According to Albanian Minister of Tourism, Ili Pango, 85 percent of the tourists came to Albania to visit family and for vacation, while 6 percent came for business, while the rest of 6 percent of the tourists were there for one day.
Albania’s southern coastline along the Adriatic Sea is a beautiful and charming area that is beginning to draw interest from holiday travelers as well as property investors who are looking for the next big market. The southern coastal activity and resorts are centered on the city of Saranda, while a little bit to the south is the historic town of Butrint and inland is Gjirokastra.
The most popular destination in the southern part of the country is Saranda, a coastal resort town that is growing by the day. The town is bustling and full of life, with new buildings going up all over the place. It is a great time to invest in property here as this town looks to be the next big Mediterranean resort destination. It is being called the Albanian Riviera and there are many recently constructed properties as well as off-plan units to invest in. The town is right on the water and has a nice beach, but there is a beautiful beach down the coast at Ksamili. A new airport is in the works and scheduled for completion in 2011, and the town currently has ferry service to the Greek island of Corfu.
Further inland is another historical significant town, Gjirokaster. This town produced several prominent modern figures in famous Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare and former dictator Enver Hoxha. It is built on cobblestoned hills and has many charming Ottoman homes to see and even purchase. Wherever you choose to go in southern Albania, you will find great deals and beautiful sites to see.