country as a key holiday destination. However despite all the plus points Albania is still missing some essential components – for one it is lacking in numbers and quality of hotel rooms and there is a need for more efficient transportation links and infrastructure.
Tere is a big shortage of good accommodation. Back in 2003 the country saw less than 300,000 international travellers. Tere were few hotels and virtually no tour guides or even a hospitality industry to speak of. In 2008 the government adopted a law deregulating the tourism industry and the sector began to grow although the sector then also had to introduce quality standards to increase services to prevent every cowboy from setting up a business.
Tis was helped in 2015 when a new law was adopted which required hotels and accommodations to have a new star rating system plus they were also required to have a percentage of their staff certified and licensed.
Tis enabled the sector to be more regulated and provide statistical data whilst also protecting Albania’s resources. Tis coincided with the launch of an initiative called the Western Balkan
Geotourism MapGuide launched with National Geographic to help Albania and other Balkan countries to ensure a more authentic, engaged experience whilst enhancing the culture, land and people.
Meanwhile this year new tax incentives were introduced for the hospitality industry. Te government introduced the tax breaks for the tourism sector into its 2018 fiscal package and now all ‘special status’ four and five star hotels and resorts will be exempt from corporate income tax for a 10 year period, they scrapped construction tax whilst VAT for all services and accommodation supplied by five star hotels (this rate is applicable to all other tourism hotel facilities for accommodation services only) is set at six per cent (previously 20 per cent).
Basically every accommodation facility that obtains a five star rating from the 30 international luxury brands (special status) will not pay taxes for 10 years.
International hotel chains or franchises are welcomed into Albania providing they invest at least €8m for a four star hotel or at least €15m for a five star. At the moment the average hotel
in Albania only has 33 beds and is not particularly suitable for large groups of visitors whilst the country lacks five star hotels and luxury resorts. Te idea is to attract strategic investors and improve the quality of services offered.
Te Institute of Statistics say in 2016 there were 1,242 accommodation facilities in Albania with 18,000 rooms and 41,000 beds. Tere were only one or two five star hotels in Tirana alone.
TOURISM GROWTH Today the tourism sector is growing remarkably.
Total tourism contribution is responsible indirectly for 25 per cent of the country’s GDP (or 8.4 per cent directly) and there were 5.1 million tourists registered visiting Albania last year compared to 3.6 million back in 2012. Te vast majority come from Europe and 3.8 million from neighbouring southern European countries particularly Kosovo (1.7 million visitors), Macedonia and Greece. Te country earned around €1.5bn from tourism last year and the government believe Albania is now a competitive country for tourism in the region.
Te World Travel and Tourism Council rank NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P63
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