The Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro attended the first roundtable discussion “Global Round Table: Next Changes, next challenges” hosted by Richard Quest, CCN reporter and travel blogger, at the ITB Berlin 2025.

“In developing tourism, we must not only learn from the mistakes of others, but also from our own history of recent years. Albania is now a completely transformed country thanks to tourism,” Kumbaro said in her remarks.

Asked about the flows of US tourists to Europe, Kumbaro said that for the government tourism is about policymaking, whereas it means business for operators and tourism companies.

“And for travelers, tourism means pleasure. In the post-COVID period, people are seeking to visit as many countries as possible, and Albania is a destination with the map of its visitors expanding from North and South America to Asia,” she said.

Tourism Minister also clarified Albania’s approach to become an elite tourist destination.

“Albania is this year’s Official Host Country of ITB Berlin. You should also know that Albania is a country with a population of just 2.4 million, but which saw a record visitor number of around 12 million last year. We are seeking to transform Albania into an elite tourist destination,” Kumbaro said.

Tourism Minister also said that Albanian government is preparing a strategy aimed at providing Albanian expats to return and invest in tourism development projects back home.

“We are prioritizing human resources. A strategy is also underway to convince Albanian diaspora to return back home and invest in tourism and agritourism projects,” she said.

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“One of Albania’s four tourist ports will be built in Vlora. There is no reason of whatsoever for anyone to question such investments of strategic importance for the country,” the government head said in a press conference on Friday, when asked about a residential complex project about to be constructed near the current Vlora port.

The Premier drew attention to the tourism strategies implemented by countries like Türkiye or Montenegro, saying that the governments in these countries have supported builders financially in the early stage of tourism development.

The government head underlined that Albania has been lacking serious investment projects in its tourism sector over the years.

“For years, we have had a gap that we are seeking to bridge now. Albania is the only country in the Mediterranean still out of the tourism map. The country is making its way to the tourism map through this infrastructure after really lacking tourism infrastructure,” he said.

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