The 350km long Adriatic coastline is one of Albania’s best assets but up until recently has not been fully developed. But with the rising number of Western tourists there is a huge scope for development of Western style beach resorts.


Travel and tourism are two of the most important sectors for the Albanian economy in terms of employment and contribution to GDP. Albania was pretty much closed off to foreign tourists for much of the 20th century but is now making up for lost ground.


As communism came to an end in 1991 the country tentatively began to open up for tourism business and today it is one of Europe’s best kept secrets.


Te country offers stunning mountain scenery alongside rivers, forests, and lakes plus the remains of Greek and Roman architecture, whilst tourists can choose between the bustling capital city of Tirana to sandy coastal beaches.


Back in the mid-1990s there were around 300,000 tourists generating approximately $70m in receipts which represented 2.9 pr cent of the country’s GDP.


By 2019 that figure had reached 6.4 million tourists generating more than $2.46bn in receipts which is around 15 per cent of GDP.


As the pandemic hit tourism figures dropped, with three million visitors in 2020 and 5.6 million in 2021.


P164 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS


Tourism figures are slowly returning to pre- Covid levels with 3.9 million foreign nationals arriving in the country during the first seven months of 2022 – 39 per cent more than the same period in 2021.


Te growth is in part down to a visa liberalisation programme for tourism purposes with eight countries involved, which was implemented by the Albanian government between May and September 2022. A growing number of US tourists also visit Albania, often as part of day excursions from Corfu or Greece.


DEVELOPMENT


Te 350km long Adriatic coastline is one of Albania’s best assets but up until recently has not been fully developed. But with the rising number of Western tourists there is a huge scope for development of Western style beach resorts.


Albania is fast establishing itself as the next hotel hotspot in the Med and the number of chain hotels in this region has almost doubled since 2018 from 12 to 23 properties (2020).


Albania is keen to follow its neighbour Croatia’s example where half of the 77,000 room capacity belong to large hotel chains. In Albania the total


number of beds available has increased from around 2,000 back in 1995 to 15,000 currently.


Leading the way in Croatia’s hotel development is Spanish hospitality group, Melia Hotels which is said to be the main international hotel group in Albania.


Melia signed an agreement last year to open three franchise hotels in Albania, increasing the number of its projects in the country to seven and a total of 1,600 rooms.


Te projects include a 460-room beachfront resort in Golem, a 46-room hotel in Tirana and a 120-room Hotel Tomorri affiliated by Melia in Berat due to open in 2024 with casino. Te other four hotels the company will open include a 125-room Gran Melia five star flagship hotel in Tirana due to open in 2025 and two beach resorts in Durres in 2023 and a hotel in Palasa Beach in Saranda.


Meanwhile the Radisson Hotel group opened its first hotel in Albania with the new-build Radisson Collection Morina Hotel in Tirana. Te hotel has 49 rooms and suites across eight floors.


IHG Hotels and Resorts is also due to open a


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178