This year’s summer promises to break record in terms of tourist presence in Saranda.

Arben Çipa, head of the Association of Tourist Operators, says that the hotel industry in the southern city is going through the best days.

“The touristic presence is currently about vacationers coming from Central Europe. We have Spanish and French vacationers, the typology of vacationers in Saranda has changed. What we noticed is that tourists prefer not only Saranda but the whole south, Gjirokastra, Berat, Vlora, they rent vehicles and visit them”, says Çipa.

To a large extent during the months of July-August, Saranda will welcome Italian tourists. This category of tourists is expected to stay in apartments and frequent restaurants.

“What I think most important for Saranda, especially for the restaurants and apartments, will be Italian citizens. There are significant bookings from the Italians, and it’s time we wait for them. Despite the fact that the Bari-Saranda line was not realized this year, the Italians will come through Igumenica or through Vlora and Durrës. The presence of Italians will bring dynamics, it will be what Saranda is looking for”, he says.

Saranda has become a magnet that attracts vacationers from all over the world. The coastal town’s natural beauty makes it overcrowded by foreigners during summer season.

“I chose Saranda because I had heard about the beauty of this place, as simple as that. I just got here and it looks good, I like it. And I’ve been to Ksamil, beautiful islands there. I had some information about Saranda and I came to see it with my own eyes”, says a tourist.

For the sea and not only, hundreds of thousands of vacationers will visit Saranda this summer, in what the tourism industry there is already calling a record season.