Tourist packages for this summer season are expected to be more expensive compared to last year.

This comes as a result of the devaluation of the euro, but also the continuous increase in the prices of basic products.

“This is a very stressful moment on our part, because we don’t want to raise prices. We always want to be competitive in the region, but the exchange rate of the euro has put a squeeze on us in terms of prices, because it is not a little, it is almost a 20% loss, just from the exchange rate of the euro. So there is a very small percentage increase, which is almost insensitive to tourist packages”, says Eduard Xhepa, the head of tourism sector.

This necessary increase, according to the head of the tourism sector, is not expected to affect the work of tourist structures, which are increasingly seeing an increase in the number of elite tourists.

“The tourists of this season and of the past seasons are mainly tourists who come organized in groups with closed packages, but there are many and the number of elite tourists who come in small individual, family groups is increasing even more”, he says.

The operators have some requirements for the local government.

“Cleanliness is the first and what we see is that the number of signage and tourist information must be increased and measures must be taken to systematize traffic and parking,” says Xhepa.

These are also noted by the locals, who are appealing for some measures to be taken.

Durrës currently offers a total of 168 hotels, with 4859 rooms and 11,528 beds, where almost 70% of them are already booked for the summer season.