By Rudina Hoxha
A group of Hungarian tour operators will be visiting Albania from 5-9th October, 2016 to see the possibilities of a bilateral cooperation.
On the eve of this tour, the President of MUISZ Association of Hungarian Travel Agencies, Bà¡lint Erdei, has shared his thoughts with the readers of Tirana Times explaining that the Hungarian tour operators are coming to Albania to make a balance sheet of what the Albanian market offers and how they can sell this destination in Hungary.
“Budapest is one of the best developing city destination. It will be beneficial for both sides, Hungary and Albania, to meet trustworthy and reliable partners,” Erdei said.
He appealed on the need to give a new push to the cooperation with Albania in the field of tourism.
What sort of trends do you seek in Albania when it comes to the tour experience? What are you looking for in Albania?
Although our countries used to have close relations in pre-war Europe – enough to think about Queen Geraldine – these ties loosened during the communist era, and still have a long way to return to “normal” . Every year an increasing number of Hungarians visit Albania, but the country is still a relatively unknown developing destination – so the Hungarian travel agencies need to see what Albania has to offer, and how we can sell the destination in Hungary.
Have you studied the Albanian market? Have you made any survey?
Some of our members have put their feet into the door of the Albanian market. They successfully run a few tours every year.
In what ways are you interested to cooperate with the Albanian tour operators? What do you offer?
Tourism can probably grow both ways, since Hungary can offer a lot of beauties, too. And Budapest is one of the best developing city destination. It will be beneficial for both sides to meet trustworthy and reliable partners.
As Albania remains still not a globalized country, do you see a higher interest in the part of the Hungarian tourists to visit our country?
Hard to say whether globalization or the lack of it makes a destination more interesting – there are examples of both. Travelers are – hopefully – not only looking for international brands, but local historical sights and impressions, cultural heritage and relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle. Albania surely has a lot of hidden gems.
Do you think that the presence of the Budapest-Tirana direct flight will bring more tourists in Albania?
There used to be a daily flight by Malev, which stopped 4-5 year ago. A new direct flight with some good offers and attractive marketing, must give tourism a new push.
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the tour operator space? How do you see the impact of mobile technology?
The biggest changes were the same as for most European countries. That is the general political instability– Terrorism, migration, coup – that hit a number of former key holiday destination. This has also benefited Hungarian domestic tourism, many families have rediscovered our own homeland. In terms of technological developments, we have seen that people are not intimidated to use the internet to buy services – and they don’t care much if there are foreign providers behind these websites. Mobile technology is growing everywhere but ther5e are very few truly mobile friendly solutions at this stage.
