TIRANA, June 13 /ATA/ Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, began inspections in coastal municipalities starting from Velipoja, also marking the launch of the “Clean Beaches” operation. For the fourth consecutive year, the National Coastline Agency is supporting these municipalities in managing the clean-up and maintenance of beaches from June 15 to September 15.
Accompanied by Mayor Benet Beci, Minister Kumbaro conducted an on-site inspection of the coastal beach conditions, noting that “this year, the tourist season began earlier, with visitor numbers up by 4% compared to the same period last year.”
“This year, the beach and maritime tourism season has kicked off earlier throughout the entirety of Albania. This week marks the launch of the ‘Clean Beaches’ operation — a coordinated effort between coastal municipalities and the National Coastline Agency — aimed at ensuring 24-hour cleaning of beaches and adjacent coastal areas, spanning from Velipoja to Ksamil. In comparison with the same period last year, there has been a 4% increase in visitor numbers during the January to May span,” Minister Kumbaro said.
On the other hand, Minister Kumbaro raised concerns that the expansion of public beach areas for the 2025 summer season requires increased responsibility not only from institutions tasked with territorial maintenance, but also the active cooperation of businesses, local residents, and tourists. She emphasized that collaboration with the State Police will be more intensive this year.
“With the amendments introduced in the new 2025 beach regulations, only entities that operate accommodation facilities will be eligible to apply for the private management of beach areas. This means that not only have we increased the public beach surface area, but we have effectively doubled it compared to last year,” stated Minister Kumbaro.
She further noted that, “In the Municipality of Shkodra, approximately 60% of the beaches are public, which translates into more work for us and greater responsibility for the municipality in terms of maintaining and keeping the territory clean.”
“It is essential to underscore that keeping our beaches clean and orderly would be impossible without the active cooperation of residents, visitors, and businesses of all types,” stated Minister Kumbaro. “This year, the State Police will work in close coordination with us to address any issues that may arise, including the unlawful occupation of beach areas and blocking of waste disposal infrastructure. Cleanliness will be treated as a national priority, as the success of our tourism sector fundamentally depends on our ability to keep environment clean.”
The Minister further emphasized that there will be zero tolerance for any attempts to unlawfully occupy public beach spaces.
The Mayor of Shkodar, Benet Beci, stated that the municipality is working on developing several models for the public management of beaches by the municipality.
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