TIRANA, April 4 – China’s Ambassador to Albania Jiang Yu says the visa free travel for Chinese tourists is good news that will bring development in human exchanges and promote new tourism opportunities between the two countries.
The visa waiver that Albania has recently approved allows Chinese tourists to visit Albania from April 1 to October 31, 2018 and stay in the country for up to 90 days, benefiting Albania’s rapidly growing tourism industry and potential Chinese tourists to the tiny Balkan country which in the 1960s and 70s was the key ally of then-communist Albania and has now emerged as one of the top investors and trading partners as it has turned into the world’s second largest economy.
“China is a main source of outbound tourism. Albania was visited by 10,000 Chinese tourists last year. We are working so that this figure increases for this year, paving the way for better prospects for tourism in Albania,” the Ambassador told state-run ATA news agency in a video interview.
“We are working with Chinese tour operators to promote Albania and have asked Albanian tour operators to do the same thing. A priority has been given to cultural tourism with Kruja and Gjirokastra, but also nature tourism. Kruja is loved because of its heroic history while Gjirokastra because it was the setting of “Ngadhnjim mbi Vdekjen” (Triumph over Death) movie featuring things in common between the two peoples,” said the ambassador.
Kruja is a symbol of Albanian resistance against Ottoman occupation and the stronghold of Albania’s 15th century national hero, Skanderbeg. Meanwhile, the southern Albania town of Gjirokastra, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005, inscribed as a rare example of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period.
“We support a regional policy as far as tourism involving Balkan countries is concerned. Regional tourism is more successful and Albania will have a priority in this,” says Ambassador Ju, a career diplomat who has been representing China in Albania since 2015.
The ambassador says relations between the two countries are taking a new dimension with the increase in human exchanges.
“A lot of progress has been made in relations between our two countries and it is worth mentioning the meeting between our two foreign ministers two years ago when a memorandum was signed on easing visa procedures between our two countries which has further increased human exchanges between the two countries,” says the ambassador.
