TIRANA, May 31 – Albania’s government is eying tourism as a key sector in hopes of turning the country’s economic fortunes and create more jobs.
The government minister in charge of the tourism sector, Arben Ahmetaj, said tourism has the potential to become a main source of income for many parts of the populations during the upcoming busy season.
Ahmetaj said at last week’s Tirana Talks/Vienna Economic Forum that tourism was one of the sectors that was highly attractive to foreign direct investment and called for coordinated efforts among countries in the region.
The forum brought together ministers and senior officials, including prime ministers from six Western Balkan countries.
“Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are small divided markets, but the region has a considerable number of consumers,” he said.
Ahmetaj added the countries in the region have similar natural beauties, and voiced support for proposed a tourism route that would cut along the coastal line linking Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said that authorities are well-prepared to cope with the influx of tourists this summer.
He spoke at a ceremony marking the opening of 22 new medical care centers that will work non-stop near tourist areas during the high season.
Nineteen of them will be along the coastline, while three will be in the picturesque northern mountain areas of Valbona, Razem and Theth. They will continue operating until the end of August.
Authorities have already started cleaning the beaches and police have prepared the plan and strategy to cope with the significantly increased number of tourists, especially from neighboring Kosovo, from where the bulk of the visitors arrives each year.
Ports have already prepared the plan to welcome an increased number of ferries.
The Ministry of Culture is also planning to organize artistic events around the country.
Albania’s ruling Socialist-led coalition has promised voters 300,000 new jobs in its first mandate, an unrealistic number, experts say, and it has some catching up to do in the last two years of the mandate.
