The report published by the World Economic Forum ranked Albania 77th, compared to 71st a couple of years ago, sandwiched between Ukraine and Armenia, leaving behind only landlocked Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova among European countries.
TIRANA, March 12 – Albania lost six places in the 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, ranking worse to its regional competitors mainly due to poor business environment and infrastructure. The report published by the World Economic Forum surveying 140 global economies ranked Albania 77th, compared to 71st a couple of years ago, with a total score of 3.97 on a 1-to-7 scale, sandwiched between Ukraine and Armenia, leaving behind only landlocked Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova among European countries.
Business environment and infrastructure ranked Albania 90th while Travel and Tourism ((T&T) regulatory framework and T&T human, cultural and natural resources ranked 63rd among 140 countries survey by the report released by the World Economic Forum.
In the T&T Regulatory Framework, Albania ranked better in the prioritization of T&T (59) and 62nd to 69th for environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene and policy regulations.
In the business environment and infrastructure pillar Albania ranked worse on ICT infrastructure (97th), air and ground transport infrastructure (98th) and (85th) and slightly better on tourism infrastructure (76th) and price competitiveness in the T&T industry (64th).
In the human, cultural and natural resources, Albania ranks poor on natural and cultural resources 109th and 87th respectively, relatively good for human resources 43rd and almost perfect for affinity for T&T which ranks Albania 4th.
“The countries with the top assessments for the affinity for Travel & Tourism are Lebanon, Barbados, Hong-Kong and Albania, with all displaying great openness to foreign travelers and with their business communities also expressing their sense of the great value of tourism on offer in their countries,” says the report.
Under the theme “Reducing Barriers to Economic Growth and Job Creation”, The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 assessed 140 economies worldwide based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector. The 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) reveals that Switzerland, Germany and Austria lead the world in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness, with Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Sweden and Singapore completing the top 10.
The report explores how, on one hand, the travel and tourism industry has the potential to boost economic resilience and job creation but, on the other, a number of factors continue to hinder its development.
Record tourists, less income
For 2012, the Tourism Ministry reports a record 3.4 million foreign tourists, up 26 percent compared to 2011, visiting Albania which is 21 percent more than the 2.8 million resident Albanians identified by the latest population census in 2011.
Meanwhile, the country’s central bank reported tourism revenue dropped by 5 percent in the first nine months of the year. In its annual report, the Tourism Ministry says 4.7 million people visited Albania in 2012 of whom 3.4 million were foreigners and 1.3 million migrants, who are described as non-residents holding Albanian citizenship. Data show some 65 percent of foreign tourists come from Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro where ethnic Albanians are the majority or second largest communities with local experts often referring to this sector of the market as ‘patriotic tourism.’
The Greeks account for 7 percent, followed by Italians with 4 percent and the Germans with 2 percent.
WTTC on Albania’s tourism
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) expects the Albanian tourism industry to moderately grow in terms of direct contribution to GDP, employment numbers, and investments for the next 10 years. In a newly published country report, the London-based organization expects the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to Albania’s GDP to grow by 5.6 percent in 2012, and to rise by 5.4 percent pa, from 2012-2022, to ALL 145.4bn in 2022. The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2011 was ALL 81.4bn (6.2 percent of GDP). As far as employment is concerned, WTTC expects Travel & Tourism industry to account for 70,000 jobs or 6.5 percent of total employment by 2022. In 2011, Travel & Tourism directly supported 51,000 jobs (5.5 percent of total employment).
Visitor exports, which includes spending within the country by international tourists for both business and leisure trips, as well as transport, generated ALL182.4bn (41.8 percent of total exports) in 2011. Travel & Tourism investment in 2011 was ALL21.0bn, or 4.8percent of total investment. It should rise by 7.5 percent in 2012, and rise by 4.6 percent pa over the next ten years to ALL35.4bn in 2022 (5.0 percent of total).
