TIRANA, April 1 – Tourism revenue registered a record high in 2014 when more than 3.6 million foreign tourists visited Albania, according to data published by the central bank and INSTAT.
Bank of Albania data show tourism revenue rose to historic high of 1.2 billion euros in 2014, up from 1.1 billion euros in 2013 as the number of foreign tourists visiting Albania rose by 13 percent to a record high of 3.67 million. Spending on trips abroad also rose to an estimated 1.195 billion euros, up from 1.113 billion euros in 2013.
Tourism revenue registered a drop for the fourth consecutive year in 2013, when the number of foreign tourists slightly dropped to 3.2 million, down from a previous record of 3.5 million in 2012, registering the first decline since 2000. 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 abroad 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.
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.’
Back in May 2014, 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. The global ad campaign will be led under the slogan “Albania, Go your own way.”
