The arrivals of foreigners increased by 30.6% in the fifth month of the year compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the official statistics of the Institute of Statistics

In total, during January-May, the number of foreigners registered was over 3.3 million or 38.2 percent more than the same period of the previous year.

According to INSTAT, during May 2024, it turns out that 1,606,520 Albanian citizens and foreigners entered the Albanian territory. This indicator has increased by 30.6%, compared to May 2023.

Meanwhile, 1,615,862 Albanian citizens and foreigners have left the territory of the Republic of Albania, marking an increase of 30.8%, compared to the same period last year. /r.e/p.s./

Gonxhja reminded in the speech delivered on this occasion the great Albanian Faik Konica who used to say that, “Albanians are like cobblestones united on a long road that leads to a bright and prosperous future”.

However, he continued, for a long time, and perhaps nowhere more than in the field of tourism, the bright future was more the fruit of imagination than reality.

He also reminded that 23 years ago, the Municipality of Tirana made a lot of efforts, spent many months of negotiations and preparations to bring “Scorpions” to Albania.

“I also remember that it was as difficult to find a suitable accommodation for the 76 people accompanying the group. And I say, it is remarkable how much present-day Albania has changed since then”, said Gonxhja.

Tourism, for Albania, he continued, offers an excellent chance that should be seized in all its dimensions.

“It is an opportunity for transformation not only for tourist areas, local communities or accommodation structures, but for the entire Albanian economy and entrepreneurship. Therefore, today’s initiative aims to strengthen the transformative force of this sector, placing it at the service of the sustainable development of Albanian producers. By encouraging the widest possible inclusion of Albanian products and brands in our accommodation chain and by interweaving the best that the land and people have to offer with what nature has given us, we are able to set ourselves a new ambitious goal”, said Gonxhja.

According to him, 15 million tourists and 5 billion Euros of income per year, who knows, in addition to the beauties of nature and our culture, there will be promoted the wine, cheese, organic products, meat, and other local products.

“There are 250,000 jobs that are opened or supported directly or indirectly by tourism. 1 in 5 Albanians today works directly or indirectly in the tourism sector”, he said.

Gonxhja said that promotion of local products will produce a chain reaction, which will improve welfare and production beyond this sector, encouraging more employment and more income in sectors such as agriculture, light industry, communication industry and technology, transport, etc./p.s./

Attending the meeting, there were Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, Minister of the Interior Taulant Balla, as well as mayors, tourism operators and other representatives of the sector.

PM Rama said that, “This meeting marks the launch of a discussion process that we will continue with all the groups involved in the joint effort to turn Albania 2030 into a champion country of tourism in our region. Everything we have seen in this season is the result of a persistent work and a great effort, of a considerable number of factors, but on the other hand it is an achievement, which in no way should make us feel as if we have really achieved it, it is just a station on a road which is still uphill”.

“This year’s tourist boom, beyond all the extraordinary positive effects, also presented us with sharp challenges that we must begin to address immediately. We must all be aware, all levels of government, but also the sector of entrepreneurship in tourism that the risk that all this great and good reputation everywhere in the world this year may turn into a boomerang in the coming year or two or three years is real”, underlined Rama.

The head of the government said that, “With this trend, we can reach 10 million tourists this year. Surely, this year we will hit the ceiling of 9 million foreign tourists”.

Rama said further that, “The impact of all this global media coverage of this surprise called Albania this year will increase interest and create more demand next year”.

“We have many reasons to be proud of the work we have done, to feel rewarded for the effort and patience in climbing the ladder from a really not very encouraging starting point and on the other hand we have before us meaningful signs of the fact that we can build a tourist Albania which extends throughout 365 days of the year”, emphasized Rama./k.s/p.s./

Albania is experiencing a boom of its tourism this year.

As many as 5.1 million foreign tourists visited Albania in the first seven months of this year, up by 31% compared with 2022 that saw record high visitor numbers.

“Over 1.7 million foreign visitors visited Albania in July alone, rising 26% year-on-year,” the Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro said.

According data from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, holidaymakers from Kosovo lead the number of visitors, followed by a growing number of tourists from other European countries.

Number of Spanish visitors to Albania doubled over the last few months compared with the same period of the past year.

Number of Turkish visitors rose 142%, number of Montenegrins increased 62%, French 58% and number of Italian visitors soared by 53% compared with last year.

Number of Chinese visitors recorded strong growth by 152%, mainly due to the cooperation agreement between the two countries.

Italian Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè met with her Albanian counterpart in Tirana earlier in August.

Kumbaro said that 310 Italian tourists have visited Albania in the first six months, up by 57% compared with same period of the previous year.

//a.i/u.sh/