Tirana Times
TIRANA, August 10 – Prime Minister Sali Berisha says the rising number of visitors is turning tourism into one of the most important branches of the Albanian economy. Speaking on Wednesday in a government meeting dedicated to tourism, Berisha said the number of foreign tourists in Albania during the first seven months of this year had increased by 412,000 people.
“The ones who determined Albania as the top tourist destination on the planet, as the annual magic of tourism or ‘Miss Tourism 2011’ proved prophetic,” said Berisha.
He also announced that more than 2 million Albanian had left Albania for different purposes during the first half of this year, some 347,000 people more than the same period last year when the visa-free travel regime had not entered into force yet.
Berisha described the preservation of tourist areas from garbage pollution as one of the key issues of Albanian tourism, calling on citizens to show more attention to environment protection.
“Building incinerators and landfills is not enough if citizens don’t throw litter in their proper places,” added Berisha.
Albania’s announcement as the top travel destination in 2011 by Lonely Planet Guide and the sixth global destination by CNN experts has proved a success for the country’s tourism industry during the first half of this year despite grim expectations following the escalation of the political crisis. This is also confirmed by data published by the Tourism Ministry which 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. However, around half of foreign tourists coming to Albania stayed for a single day or used Albania as a transit point. Only 54 percent of the total foreign tourists stayed in Albania for more than one night.
The majority of tourists coming to Albania during the first half of this year, were from neighbouring Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro where ethnic Albanians are the major or second largest communities with local experts often referring to this sector of the market as ‘patriotic tourism.’
Data show tourists from Kosovo whose distance to Albania has been considerably cut following the construction of the Durres-Kukes highway accounted for 34 percent of tourists followed by Macedonia with 16 percent, Montenegro with 10 percent, Greece 8 percent, and Italy and Germany with 6 and 3 percent respectively.
Worried about the country’s image, tour operators’ expectations about this year were grim as the ongoing political crisis between ruling government and the opposition escalated in anti-government protest in Jan. 21 which left four protestors killed.
Tourism revenues continued to grow in the first quarter of 2011. Recent Bank of Albania data published show tourism revenues in the first quarter of 2011 climbed to 175 million Euros, up from 161 million Euros in the first quarter of 2010, registering a 9.2 percent increase.
Albanian tourism has grown at a significant pace over the last few yearsנcontributing over US$ 2.4 billion in 2009 to the Albanian economy, with expectations to grow by 4% in 2011, according to statistics from the World Travel and Tourism Council. Over 200,000 Albanians are involved in tourism businesses and this number is expected to grow.
