Albania participates in Germany’s coach tourism exhibition

TIRANA, August 9 – Albania was successfully represented for the second year in a row in the Coach Tourism RDA in Germany’s Cologne in a joint stand with other Balkan countries. Albania was represented by the National Tourism Agency along with four travel agencies which displayed the country’s best tourist destinations and cultural heritage sites from July 26 to 28.
The RDA-Workshop is the largest European sales and purchasing platform for the coach and group tourism sectors. The coach tourism industry has had its very own ‘jour fixe’ in late summer every year since 1975. Service providers from all tourism segments present their ideas, products and services for Cologne’s largest exhibition halls. This comprehensive cross-section of offers, destinations and ancillary services has established the RDA-Workshop as the leading purchasing and sales exhibition in its field – worldwide.
The National Tourism Agency says Albanian tour operators met with important European operators interested in including Albania in their tourist packages.
This year, Albania will also participate in the London International Tourism Fair scheduled to be held from November 7 to 10.
With the tourist season in its peak, official government figures show tourism is on track during this summer with Albania’s announcement as the top travel destination in 2011 by Lonely Planet Guide and the sixth global destination by CNN experts.
Tourism Ministry data show the number of foreign tourists entering Albania during the first half of this year grew by 39.2 percent to 764 539, compared to 549,105 a year ago