Albania Promoting Tourism in International Fairs

TIRANA, Feb 27؁lbania was successfully represented in the BIT 2010 international tourism fair held last month in Italy’s Milan, introducing itself with some of the country’s best tourist destinations, travel agencies and hotels. Albania was represented in an island-shaped stand in the four-day fair held from February 18 to 21, the Albanian National Tourism Agency reports.
Albania’s participation in this year’s edition of the fair also drew attention from local newspapers “La Republica” and “La Stampa,” describing the Albanian tourism industry as undergoing continuous growth and offering a variety of products such as the tourism of “sun and sea,” cultural tourism etc.
The best of Italian and world tourism was on offer in the Milan fair with over 5,000 participants coming from 130 countries and more than 150 thousand people visiting it.
The National Tourism Agency (NTA), whose new tourism slogan is, “Albania, a new Mediterranean love,” says the country will also participate in the Berlin ITB Travel Fair from March 10 to 14. Albania has also confirmed its participation in the Moscow fair from March 17 to 20 and in the regional tourism fair in the Kosovo capital Prishtina scheduled from April 1 to 3.
Nada Kallciu, the director of the NTA told local media this week the agency is making intense efforts to prepare for a more successful tourist season next summer.
“The country’s presence in the most important international markets of tourist product promotion makes us confident of a successful tourist season,” said Kallciu. Speaking of this year’s strategy to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Albania, she announced that several promotional campaigns will be held in Albania and abroad including publicity spots on prestigious foreign TV broadcasts.
The latest data by the National Tourism Agency show Albania was visited by 3 million people in 2009, registering a 34 percent increase compared to the previous year and 2.5 times compared to 2005.
Of the 3 million tourists in 2009 only 1.78 million were foreigners. Most of them stayed in Albania for one or a few days. The remaining 1.2 million tourists were Albanian immigrants, residents in foreign countries.
Kosovo accounted for a majority of the 37 percent of foreign visitors, followed by FYROM with 17 percent, Montenegro 7 percent, Italy and Greece 6 percent each while Great Britain, Germany and Serbia with 3 percent each. Kosovo, FYROM and Montenegro have large ethnic Albanian populations and local experts often refer to this sector of the market as patriotic tourism.
Data show 92 percent of visitors entering Albania came from Europe, 5 percent from America and 2 percent from Asia.
Albanian tourism has experienced considerable growth in the last few years. However, tour operators and lobby groups complain that the country’s underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of promotion are leaving the Albanian market several steps behind its competitors.
In the latest World Economic Forum report on competitiveness in the international travel and tourism industry, Albania ranked 90th on a list of 133 countries.