For the first time in a decade the tourism sector registered a negative balance sheet of around 6 million euros in 2013.
TIRANA, April 1 – Tourism revenue registered a drop for the fourth consecutive year unveiling the difficulty tourism is facing in Albania. 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
The Albanian government is working on a new law on tourism and a mid-term strategy in the tourism sector which has been facing crisis impacts in the past four years.
“The whole work targets turning Albania into a tourist destination by making full use of national resources, the beauty of Albania’s landscape, the cultural and historical heritage, hospitality, the historical and cultural values by respecting environment protection and promoting sustainable tourism to decently represent the country,” minister Gjermeni has said.
Albania’s tourism operators say the new fiscal package which left the value added tax on the tourism industry unchanged at 20 percent and increased the income tax for mid-sized and big enterprises to 15 percent will further complicate the situation in the tourism industry which has been suffering a shrink in revenues in the past four years.
The Albanian Tourism Association said the increase in the tax burden will make the Albanian tourism industry less competitive compared to other regional countries where VAT on the tourism sector ranges from 5 to 8 percent. The Association expected VAT on tourism to drop to 10 percent under the new fiscal package as promised by the current government during the electoral campaign.
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.
