“For this year we could only achieve more cleanliness on the beaches, but next year’s transformations will be more tangible,” says Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose Socialist Party-led government has placed the promising tourism industry as a top priority.
TIRANA, Aug. 11 – The number of foreign tourists to Albania has considerably increased this year, but we are still far off the number we target and opportunities and services we should offer, said Prime Minister Edi Rama in a post on his twitter profile this week as the tourist season is in full gear.
“For this year we could only achieve more cleanliness on the beaches, but next year’s transformations will be more tangible,” said the Prime Minister, whose Socialist Party-led government has placed the promising tourism industry as a top priority.
Tourism Minister Eglantina Gjermeni says placing Albania on the map of international tourist destinations is one of the key targets.
An inter-institutional task force set up for this season has already made Albanian beaches cleaner, holidays safer and added quality to public services.
The first certified lifeguards and guides, the “Explore Albania” mobile application, free Wi-Fi, and more space to public beaches are some of the novelties of this year’s tourist season.
In its new 2014-2020 tourism strategy, government targets the development of an all year round tourism model considering Albania’s great potential in mountain, nature and cultural heritage tourism.
“The key target of the 2014-2020 tourism strategy is sustainable management and the establishment of an integrated all year round tourism model, developing competitive tourism products and urging sustainable investments. This strategy targets three main kinds of tourism, the tourism of sand and sun, cultural tourism and nature tourism,” Tourism Minister Gjermeni has told Deutsche Welle in the local Albanian service in an interview.
“The development of this strategy is expected to bring an increase in the number of employees and visitors coming to Albania, extend the tourism season and as a result grow income from tourism. Our ambition is that this strategy is implemented on the ground with measurable indicators and set deadlines. However, its success depends on cooperation with all stakeholders, especially the quality of partnership with the private sector,” she added.
A new tourism law government expects to approve next September envisages the establishment of a contemporary system of standards in the tourism sector, involving accommodation establishments, tour operators and guides, and special interest tourism as an alternative to mass tourism.
‘Albania, Go your own way’
Last May, U.S-based APCO Worldwide and its StrawberryFrog ad unit was announced the winner of an international competition on branding Albanian tourism which in the past four global crisis years has suffered a decline in income.
“Albania, Go your own way.” That’s the slogan of the global ad campaign that will be led by StrawberryFrog and APCO Worldwide.
“Beaches, mountains, cafes, ancient cities, Every European country has them, but Albania has something they don’t have. The Future. Albania is wide open, ready to be discovered, by adventurous travelers and innovative businesses. Go your own way will make Albania the most exciting new discovery in Europe,” says the winning video in subtitles.
“We have been suffering a negative image since years. It is undisputable that Albanians have contributed to this image, but it is also undisputable that perception on outdated thinking or bias we never managed to oust has had a big part,” the Prime Minister has said.
The new international advertising and marketing campaign will include creative advertising as well as PR, digital and social media, and a short film competition.
Scott Goodson, CEO, co-founder, StrawberryFrog, describes Albania as the unknown pearl of the region.
The initiative targets increasing the number of foreigners visiting Albania and making the country more attractive to foreign investors in the tourism sector.
The new image will be built through participation in international fairs, promotional coverage in international media by introducing the particular thing about Albania in the region and Europe.
Albania has also earlier promoted its tourism potential on CNN, BBC, Euronews and Eurosport.
A rising destination
Albania offers a miscellaneous picture of coastal and mountain tourism and has been attracting more and more foreign tourists in the past few years being nicknamed as “A New Mediterranean Love” and “Europe’s Last Secret”.
In January 2014, The New York Times ranked Albania as one of the top four global destinations to go to for 2014, placing the Balkan country as the single European destination on top of the list. The prestigious daily newspaper ranks the Albanian coast the number four destination to visit, describing it as Europe at its best on a rugged shore and noting that “the Maryland-sized country combines the rugged beauty of Croatia with undiscovered ruins of Turkey or Greece.”
The rating by New York Times came after Lonely Planet tourist guide ranked Albania as the top destination for 2011 and the country was placed sixth in CNN’s top 10 destinations for 2011.
Back in 2012, the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national newspaper, selected Albania as a top tourism destination in 2012.
Tourism suffering tough times
For the first time in more than a decade the number of foreign tourists visiting Albania registered a slight decline in 2013 while tourism revenue continued its downward trend for the fourth year in a row, unveiling the critical situation in one of Albania’s most promising sectors.
Data from the country’s state statistical institute, INSTAT, show the number of foreign tourists to Albania dropped by 1.5 percent to 3.46 million in 2013, down from a historic high of 3.51 million in 2012, registering the first decline since 2000. Ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro account for three-fifths of foreign tourists visiting Albania, with local experts often referring to this market as ‘patriotic tourism.’
Meanwhile, tourism revenue registered a drop for the fourth consecutive year in 2013. Central bank data show tourism revenue dropped to 1.1 billion euros in 2013, down from 1.14 billion in 2012 registering the lowest level since 2007.
Albanians’ spending on trips rose to 1.1 billion euros in 2013, up from 1 billion euros in 2012 and the peak 1.12 billion euros in 2011 when Albania’s visa regime to the Schengen area was lifted.
For the first time in a decade the tourism sector registered a negative balance sheet of around 6 million euros in 2013. The tourism sector has positively contributed at 50 to 100 million euros annually in Albania’s current account.
Albania lost six places in the 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, ranking worse to its regional competitors mainly due to poor business environment and infrastructure. The report published by the World Economic Forum surveying 140 global economies ranked Albania 77th, compared to 71st a couple of years ago, with a total score of 3.97 on a 1-to-7 scale, sandwiched between Ukraine and Armenia, leaving behind only landlocked Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova among European countries.
In its latest report, London-based World Travel & Tourism Council says the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to Albania’s GDP was ALL 68.1 bn (Euro 478 million) accounting for 4.8 percent of total GDP. The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) was 16.7 percent of GDP in 2013. Travel & Tourism directly supported 41,000 jobs (4.3 percent of total employment) while its total contribution to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, was 15.2 percent of total employment (146,500 jobs).
