CNN Albania tourism spot to reach audience of 44 million

TIRANA, Oct.4- The Albanian government has approved the start of the production and transmission of a special advertising spot that will promote Albanian tourism, to be aired by the world famous CNN, in it CNN International Europe division. This news was made public by Tourism and Culture Minister, Ylli Pango, who omitted the details of the cost of such a major spot. The limited fund for this expense is known to be around 300.000 euro. The transmission of such a spot is considered by tourism experts and specialists at the Ministry to be a major step in marketing Albanian potential.
The CNN network covers an audience of 44.2 million people worldwide, mainly ages 25-55 years. The spot will be seen during three weeks in the period April-May 2008 and will last 30 seconds. Recently, Albania has received considerable international coverage in major newspapers and magazines regarding its tourism potential.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Entity of Tourism have made it a priority of their work since 2005 to enhance marketing strategies and promotional efforts aiming at the expansion of tourism in Albania . Other countries in the region which have invested heavily in marketing, such as Croatia, have seen the number of their visitors increase substantially. According to Minister Pango, through September 10, 840.000 tourists visited Albania, a record number which is expected to reach 1 million through the end of this year, an increase of 18 percent compared to 2006. Considerable facilities were provided to foreigners, such as group visas given to tourist agencies which made border crossing easier and quicker.