Albania Registers Tourism Growth
Economy, General News, Kosovo, Region, Top News, Tourism Thursday, August 27th, 2009Tirana | 26 August 2009 | Besar Likmeta
Despite the global economic downturn, Albania’s National Tourism Agency says the country has seen an increase in visitor numbers in the first nine months of the year.
More than 1.5 million visitors entered Albania from January to July, a 36 per cent hike on the same period in 2008.
Roughly one million visitors were from overseas, with 92 per cent of foreign visitors coming from Europe. Most of the remaining 8 per cent came from the US or Asia.
Statistics show that 89 per cent of registered visitors said that they were in the country on vacation, or to meet relatives and friends. A smaller percentage said they were in the country on business.
The largest single group of foreign visitors were from Kosovo (37 per cent), followed by visitors from Macedonia and Montenegro. All three have large ethnic Albanian populations and local experts often refer to this sector of the market as patriotic tourism.
Albanian tourism has experienced exponential growth in the last few years as the country slowly emerges from a difficult and often tumultuous transitional period.
However, while the government points to statistics in demonstrating the purported success of the tourism industry, tour operators and lobby groups complain that the country’s underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of promotion are leaving the Albanian market several steps behind its competitors.
In the latest World Economic Forum report on competitiveness in the international travel and tourism industry, Albania ranked 90th on a list of 133 countries.
In contrast, Tirana’s neighbour to the north, Montenegro, is ranked at 52, while Croatia sits at 34. Albania managed to come ahead of only two states in the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova. The countries listed in a similar position include war-torn African nations.
The report found that the Albanian travel and tourism industry employs 41,000 workers and earned 358 million euros in 2008, equivalent to 4.1 per cent of GDP. Source: Balkaninsight
Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=2010
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