This year has seen a surge of visitors from Serbia coming to Albania. On the Orthodox Easter holiday week, citizens from our neighboring country took the opportunity to spend a couple of days in the renowned tourist and historic sites of Albania.
Tourists that flocked to the country this year, revealed their exciting experiences in the cities that offer a wealthy and rich history and culture, such as the city of Durres, Apollonia, and Butrint.
“It is actually quite a gem, to discover this country. Food is super delicious. You are very very good hosts. Amazing warm people and the beauty of the country is beyond my knowledge about Albania. I’m from Novi Sad”, says Bojana Kukul, one of the visitors we spoke to.
Tour operators from Serbia say that these are the first tourist groups reaching the Albanian border, but many more are expected to visit soon during the summer season. By now, in Serbia, the touristic market of Albania is quite a preferred product by those that like to travel regularly.
“We are glad that we bring about two buses of tourists on our Easter to celebrate here to enjoy many archeological places or the beaches in Ksamil or Saranda. The best is hospitality and we are very glad that we are here. The most interesting thing for Serbian tourists during the summer holidays, believe it or not, but we started to sell many more programs in the summer for Saranda and the interest is big because our tourists, when they come here are very surprised because of the beauty, because of the hospitality and because of the nice prices,” says Dragan Gulic, a tour operator from Serbia.
Apart from visitors coming in from Serbia, visitors from Romania are also on a rise. These past days, dozens of Romanian tourists have arrived in Albania, to enjoy the first warm days as well as the archaeological and natural assets that can be found in Albania.
“It’s a very pleasant surprise to be here. We are impressed about Butrint and generally speaking about Albania. People don’t know so a lot about Albania but any Romanian who comes here, brings another two or three people because all the feedback is good,” told Euronews Livju Medelcu, a Rumanian tour guide.
Tourist agencies in Albania believe that this season will rely mainly on visitors from the Balkans. According to them, Serbia, Kosovo, and Romania will be bringing in the largest groups of visitors.
“We are now located at the Archeological Park of Butrint and the first groups have just started coming. Now, we are accompanying a group from Romania. Other groups will also be joining us from Serbia, as well as Spain. Despite the fact that the pandemic is still doing its thing, we hope that we can all start loosening up little by little”, said Jimmy Lama, a director of a travel agency that has opened in Saranda.
The arrival of tourists from neighboring countries is something relatively new for Albania. The 2021 season is estimated to have a boom in visitors, predominantly with those coming in from Serbia.
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