After achieving a record-breaking 2023, Albania is on the right track to claim the title of Tourism Queen for 2024. As reported by Albanian Daily News, according to Rrahman Kasa, president of the Albanian Tourist Union, “operators report a 35% increase in guaranteed contracts for organized tourism for the next year”.
Lorenzo Lonoce from Puglia, who, with his wife Florika Rodakaj, created “the largest Albanian tour operator specialized in Italian tourists”, confirms: “In Saranda (the southernmost city in Albania and a beloved destination for our compatriots; note), some structures are already sold out, fully booked, in August. Work is underway on Vlora, but I am sure that, in 2-3 months, we will also have a good portion of availability occupied there. And I will say more: in Tirana, there are about ten agencies organizing New Year’s Eve. In practice, the trend of this summer has not stopped. October also went well because for some, the destination is emerging now. Many, having seen what happened this summer, are proposing Albania not only for the sea but also for the culture”.
There are many factors that determine the success of a destination. One of them is certainly easy accessibility. “Now flights have multiplied with Ryan Air, so much so that I have had requests for a tour from Catania in December. Ryan – notes Lonoce – does not fly from Puglia, but from many Italian cities, yes. So now we can also think of different tourism, for the weekend, faster. There are Air Albania, Ita, WizzAir, and also Ryan, plus three ports, so the distances between Italy and Albania have been nullified. Many tour operators who had never thought about Albania are emerging. An even busier summer is looming, but also a spring. Not to mention that cultural twinning with cities is now being created. We, from San Marzano di San Giuseppe (a town in Taranto that hosts the largest Arbëresh community in Italy; note), for example, from November 26 to 28, are going to Albania to bring our typical products and our musical groups. Furthermore, they are inaugurating a hotel every day, it’s an impressive thing. That is, tourism and offerings do not stop”. And since the country owes its success to low costs, the fact that bed capacity is increasing may perhaps slow down ongoing price increases. According to Kasa: “The prices set this year in guarantee contracts for the upcoming season have marked a drastic increase ranging from 15 to 25%” and is supposed to be due to the appreciation of the lek against the euro and the increase in costs. According to the expert, in the first 8 months of this year, Italians were the second group of tourists, right after Albanians from Kosovo. According to the Ministry of Tourism in Tirana, we are talking about 660,000 Italians out of a total of 9 million foreigners. An enormous number.
Finally, another factor in Albania’s success is planning. The government led by Edi Rama, for example, has just signed an agreement with ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism fair: Albania will officially be the Country of Honor for 2025. And the promotion program begins in March 2024 and ends in March 2025. Albania will also host the 70th meeting of the Commission for Europe of the World Tourism Organization, which will take place in spring in Tirana with the participation of 40 European tourism ministers.
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