The latest data on the business profile by regions belonging to the year 2022 indicate that Vlora, Durrës, and Kukës had the highest growth rates of hotels and restaurants compared to 2021.
Data from the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) show that in the Vlora region, the number of hotels and restaurants increased by 11.5 percent. In this region, there are 2,188 units, ranking second after Tirana, where 6,183 restaurants and hotels are officially reported in 2022.
The second region with the highest increase in service units, restaurants, and hotels in 2022 was Durrës with 7.8%. In this city, there are 1,596 hotels and restaurants officially reported, ranking third in the country’s 12 regions.
Although the Kukës region has the lowest number of restaurants and hotels nationwide, there was a considerable increase in these units by 7% in 2022.
In all three of these regions, the opening of service units was driven by positive developments in tourism.
The Durrës and Vlora regions are major summer tourism destinations. Investments in bars, restaurants, and hotels in these regions have continued at a high intensity even in 2023. In the Kukës region, visitors are increasing year by year, but mountain tourism still presents high potential for further development. The Alps remain the most visited, which has sparked interest in new hotels and restaurants in the Valbona Valley and the Kukës mountains.
Growth in these units has also occurred in the Gjirokastër, Berat, and Lezhë regions, but in Tirana, Fier, Elbasan, and Dibër, a decline has been reported.
Tirana has the highest number of hotels and restaurants nationwide with 6,183 units, but in 2022, 55 activities were closed, or 1% of the total compared to 2021.
The biggest decline was in the Elbasan region, where 2.8% or 40 restaurants and hotels closed in 2022.
In Fier, 21 hotels and restaurants closed in 2022 or 1.4% of the total, while in Dibër, 5 units closed, or 1.4% of the total.
The upward trend in service businesses is following tourism, while the decline is happening in those regions where tourism development is not significant as the local population is declining.
