Data published by the Tourism Ministry 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
TIRANA, July 8 – 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.
The majority of tourists some 30 percent entered from the Morine border crossing points with Kosovo followed by the Muriqan border checkpoint with Montenegro and Qafethane point with Macedonia.
Including Albanian immigrants residents in other countries, mostly Greece and Italy, the number of tourists in the January-June period reached 1.2 million.
Tourism Ministry statistics show 2.3 million foreign tourists classified as “visitors non-residents in Albania, holding foreign citizenship” visited Albania last year. Including immigrants holding Albanian citizenship but non-resident in Albania the total number of visitors in 2010 reached almost 3.5 million, the same as Albania’s population.
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.
However, 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. Albania’s travel and tourism competitiveness climbed 19 steps to 71st in 2011, according to a recent report released by the World Economic Forum covering 139 countries. Albania’s best performing indicators in the report were the affinity for travel and tourism, followed by safety and security at 44th place, and policy rules and regulations at 46th. The worst indicators were natural and cultural resources, which, in Albania, lack proper management. Price competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry which ranked 94th, as well as air and ground transport infrastructure were also noted weak points. Albanian tourism has grown at a significant pace over the last few years– contributing 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.
