Albania hosts 10M tourists, trails in overnight stays

Democratic Party leader of Albania Sali Berisha held a discussion today with tourism associations, CE Report quotes ATA.

During his speech, Berisha emphasized the need to formalize the tourism industry in the country. He stated, “The Democratic Party considers tourism one of the greatest economic and cultural potentials of the country.”

“Albania possesses an absolutely magnificent potential for tourism — perhaps like no other country. Such a stunning potential like this country, with the most beautiful sandy and rocky shores, one of the richest cultural heritages, numerous mountains and the Alps, water sources, lakes… Albania represents a real tourism potential everywhere,” said Berisha.

He added that “tourism in Albania has unlimited potential in terms of natural resources, and there is no doubt that this sector has experienced undeniable development.”

Berisha also referred to statistics. “In 2005, Albania received a total of 320,000 tourists and visitors combined. In 2013, this number reached 4.7 million.”

“Today this number is 10–11 million, but there is one issue — visitors are not distinguished from tourists, although there is an essential difference. Here, fast air routes have made Tirana airport a preferred hub for parts of northern Greece, Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. Naturally, this is a positive development in that context,” said Berisha.

According to him, tourism faces a major problem — informality.

“The major issue is the informality that this sector swims in. This informality hits honest entrepreneurs. It affects those with transparent investments. If we compare it with Montenegro, the situation in Albania is as follows: Montenegro, with 2.8 million tourists a year, registers 16.8 million overnight stays. Albania, with 10 million tourists, registers only 6, or last year 7 million overnight stays. Not to mention Croatia, which registers over 100 million overnight stays. So, we are dealing with an extraordinary level of informality,” said Berisha.

He added, “Formalizing tourism is perhaps one of the most fundamental conditions.”

“There are three or four times more beds in apartments compared to hotels, which in many aspects puts the hotel industry in a difficult position. We will not and do not intend to ban Airbnb, but formalization is a necessary condition if we want to properly utilize this major potential we have,” Berisha stated.

He also said that the Democratic Party will invest in tourism infrastructure.

“Naturally, we consider some investments very problematic. We consider the Vlora airport highly problematic. Not because it shouldn't have been built, but because of where it was built,” said Berisha.

“Refusals of cooperation have already begun, because the airport affects a millennia-old habitat — something that cannot be rebuilt. Nature built it. We had designated a zone between Vlora and Fier in salt-affected land. The reason we moved from Akërnia, where it is now, was precisely the habitat. We had to stay away from it. But even the area between Vlora and Fier served Berat, the south, covering a wider range,” said Berisha.

“Airports are built in phases. More phases are added over time, as is happening with Rinas. But to build an airport where 600,000 tickets have to be paid — meaning the contract states that for every ticket under the 600,000 mark, the state will pay — that means fining your own country,” Berisha noted.

“But these are issues that will be resolved through transparency and the principle of ‘cleaning our own house,’ which we have in our program,” Berisha concluded.