Artan P쳮aska
apernaska@tiranatimes.com
As the nice spring days are bringing warmer skies, holidays are closer in reach and over the last weeks the Albanian press has focused largely on the issues of tourism. In 2009, tourism in Albania is expected to be a changing point. As the global crisis is shrinking holiday budgets in Western Europe, the press reports increased interest from United Kingdom-based travel agencies (Shqip, 7.04.2009) and estimates a wider-scale foreign presence on the Albanian shore, starting from the current year.
Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) show that in 2007 only 53,000 foreigners were hosted in Albanian hotels. They spent an overall of 141,000 nights in these hotels, which yields an average of 2.7 nights per person. This represents almost as many nights as the Albanian clients have spent in the local hotels (averagely 2.8 nights per person with 135,000 persons having spent 384,000 nights). The data were collected from hotels with more than 5 rooms to lend. There were 220 such hotels in Albania in 2007 representing an overall capacity of 7,791 beds.
This data might be incomplete, but they are suggestive and can be reliant for expressing a full-fledged tendency. Having on the average spent less than 3 nights in the country, the concerned foreigners appear to be in greater proportions on missions rather than on a holiday trip.
Though the frequentation of tourists in the country has been lacking impetus over its whole history, analyzing the transitional period after the fall of the Iron Curtain, local experts claim that (unless on errand) the country was mostly visited on the basis of cultural interests. This has induced the view that tourism in Albania has been up to now a “cultural affair”.
According to new analysis, this summer Albania might be on the point of a trend change. It is the first time that the country is being offered as a seaside holiday location in the foreign travel-agency holidays market – claims the local press, who also expects a longer stay benefit.
Challenges for future development
But as seven-day packets are offered to British travelers to spend their holidays on the coast of Durr쳠or Himar묠the local press reports that the majority of offers include a flight from London to Corfu and then a ferryboat-trip to adjacent Saranda, Albania. Reports remind that Albania is the destination with the highest airfare prices in the Balkans and attribute this to lack of competition and flawed airport tax policy.
They also report bad state or shortage of infrastructural links, lack of international railway connections and partially-developed bus services.
Rinas – Only one international airport
Actually, all air-flight connection to Albania is reliant on only one airport, situated near Tirana, the “Mother Teresa”, Tirana International Airport (TIA). In 2005, TIA passed under the control to a German-U.S.A. consortium composed of Hochtief AirPort, DEG Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund.
This consortium, winner of a tender in 2003, signed a concession contract for a 20-year period, was bestowed not only with the right to operate TIA, but also with the exclusivity of all the civil flights over Albanian territory.
TIA – exclusive of all
Meanwhile, Albania has been endowed with a new airport near the northern city of Kuk쳬 and other aeronautical actors have shown desires of designing new airports in the south of the country. The southern cities of Vlor묠Sarand롡nd Gjirokast철have been quoted as possible candidates (Shekulli, 24.03.2009). In 2007, Prime Minister Sali Berisha is reported to have received from Juergen Roeder, president of the German company Dorch Gruppe Holding, a draft idea for the construction of a new airport near the city of Sarand뮍
But with the exclusivity of civil flights over the territory granted to the “Tirana Airport Partners” consortium, not only is the utility of making construction of new airports compromised, but even the otherwise operational airport of Kuk쳠cannot be exploited. It is reported that the Albanian government has initiated negotiations with the consortium with the view of lifting the exclusivity clause. While possible negotiations might lead to a different conclusion, the general view is that the Albanian government will be obliged to contract an auditing company to assert the potential loss that the owners of the exclusivity grant might claim and disburse compensation to them.
Meanwhile, the consortium has expressed interest over the exploitation of the airport of Kuk쳬 and as the Albanian authorities might try to abrogate a very prohibitive clause to any future aeroportuary development, the concession-holders might be tempted to transform their exclusivity rights into a monopolistic exploitation stand.
The importance of the challenge
A possible development of seaside tourism in Albania might be facilitated by the presence of a southern airport, and this might also induce a globally competitive tariff-policy. In this way, holiday travel as well as individual circulation rates might become spurred by lower-cost air transportation fares.
While other challenges are also expected to enhance the touristic profile of the country (like infrastructure improvement with major emphasis on transport), the challenge of offering decentralized aeroportuary services might be a strategic tool not only for the development of tourism, but also for a genuine low-cost model penetration. Even if this proves not to be so beneficial in bringing foreign visitors to Albania, it would help improve the frequency of short-time home-comings of Albanians living abroad, giving thus an impetus not only to the economic development of the country but also to its social development .
The historic airport
The Tirana International Airport (TIA), generally known as the Rinas airport, is close to the capital and has been a scarce outlet to the world during the time of the authoritarian isolation of the country. Before its construction (1955-1957), Albania had a decentralized aeroportuary situation, with landing grounds in major cities like Tirana, Kor衬 Gjirokast첬 etc.
After a tender held in 2003 the Tirana International Airport consortium who signed with the government a concession-contract began operations in 2005. In 2008, “Mother Teresa” Tirana International Airport (TIA) handled 1.267 million passengers. According to the consortium, the amount of cargo increased by 17.2 per cent and air traffic movements by 5.1. TIA reported 1987 tons of cargo and a total of 19,194 flights.
In 2007, the consortium built new passenger and cargo terminals and a 6.5 km access road. In 2009, TIA is expected to finalize the extension of the passenger terminal (Phase B in the airport’s development).
13 airlines are reported to operate in TIA with services to 32 destinations.
The desolated airport
The airport of Kuk쳬 is badly expecting flights to animate its landing and take-off ground. The flight tests were completed in November 2007. Positive assertion of the navigation systems and of landing and flying off capacities has been given. According to international standards, the airport of Kuk쳠is a C category airport. Its tarmac length is 1900 m, its width 70m. It has space for 6 to 7 planes to stay on the ground, a passenger terminal and parking places.
It is situated 3 kilometers from the northern city of Kuk쳬 at the place known as the “Field of the Meteor,” near the village of Shtiq쮠and is 353m above sea level. The construction began in May 2003 and was finished in October 2005 with a grant from the United Arab Emirates. The airport is under ownership of the General Directory of Civil Aviation of Albania.
