INSTAT data show some 767,613 citizens left Albania in the first quarter of 2013, down by 3.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
TIRANA, July 22 – Affected by escalating crisis impacts, Albanians have cut down on trips abroad, with their number and total spending standing below the 2010 levels when Albanian still needed visas to travel to the Schengen area. Latest data published by the country’s state Institute of Statistics show Albanians cut their trips abroad by around 4 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. INSTAT data show some 767,613 citizens left Albania in the first quarter of 2013, down by 3.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Most people, some 75 percent left Albania by land, some 16.7 percent by air and the remaining part by sea. Meanwhile, some 380,000 foreign tourists visited Albania in the first quarter of 2013, up 18 percent year-on-year.
Bank of Albania data show the lower number of trips to and from Albania has been reflected in lower spending. For the first quarter of this year, travel revenues dropped to 171 million euros, down from 268 million in the final quarter of 2012 and 185 million euros in the first quarter of 2012, declining by 7.5 percent year-on-year, according to central bank data. Travel expenditure in the first quarter of 2013 registered 206 million euros down from 256 million euros in the final quarter of 2012, but higher compared to 185 million euros in the first quarter of 2012. However, travel expenditure in the first quarter of 2013 was lower even compared to the first quarter of 2009 when Albanians still needed visas to travel abroad.
Tourism revenue declined for the third year in a row in 2012 despite government reporting a significant boom in the number of tourists visiting Albania. Central bank data show tourism revenue in 2012 slightly dropped to 1.145 billion Euros, down Euro 24 million or 2 percent compared to 2011.
Affected by crisis, tourism revenue have been on a downward trend since 2009 when it registered its peak rate of Euro 1.3 billion. Albanians’ spending in tourist trips abroad has also considerably shrunk in the past three years despite the visa free travel regime in force since December 2010. Central bank data show Albanians spent 1 billion euros in trips abroad in 2012, down from Euro 1.169 billion in 2011 and Euro 1.227 billion in 2010.
