Only about 50 people have purchased access, and Albanian tourist agencies are working with foreign partners to make the trips possible, as South Africa is an unusual destination for Albanians.
TIRANA, June 20 – Albanian travel agencies say only a small number of Albanians traveled to South Africa for the World Cup, spending on average 3,000 euros for flying, match tickets and lodging.
Only about 50 people have purchased access packages, and Albanian tourist agencies are working with foreign partners to make the trips possible, as South Africa is an unusual destination for Albanians.
“It’s a limited number of about 50 persons who are connected with tourist agencies through packages offered at specific amounts,” Sadik Malaj, president of the Union of Albanian Tourist Operators told Top-Channel television in a talk show.
He said the tourist packages included the plane tickets, match access, breakfast and dinner.
Malaj also said there were problems with visa requirements for Albanian traveling as there is no agreement between South Africa and Albania.
Albanian tourist agencies are working with German, Greek and Turkish partners to make the trips possible.
Attendance from Europe has been lower than expected at the cup in general. Some first round games suffered from large blocks of unoccupied stands, including one match with nearly 11,000 empty seats.
FIFA reported that this was due to sold but unused group ticket purchases, and that current attendance levels were in fact second only to the 1994 event during the early round period
