Q&A touring
adventure
with...
Q. How did you get your start in travel? A. I was approached by an international car rental company 16 years ago and started working for them. While dealing with car rental, I found the demand for tours of a different kind was quite high, and yet the offer at the time was limited, so I decided to start a tourism company – and here I am! Then I met Regent Holidays at an international travel fair in London 10 years ago and my company has been operating its tours in Albania ever since.
Q. How has travel in Albania changed? A. Tourism in Albania has changed massively, just as the country itself has in the past 25 years. Many hotels have been built, the road infrastructure has changed, the restaurant industry has been booming and, of course, we have added many new sites to our itineraries because now we can access them by road. Visitors are very curious. They want to meet people, see their way of life, taste the food, visit cultural heritage sites, see landscapes and a lot more.
Q. Where is your favourite place to visit on Regent Holidays’ tours? A. There are many but I would like to mention the southeast of the country, which is probably one of the nicest and yet the least known, with towns like Pogradec, Korce, Erseke and Permet.
Q. What is a typical day for you? A. When I’m not travelling around the country or at travel fairs abroad, then we have morning meetings and operational checks to make sure our current tours are going well, and
Dritan Xhengo
owner, Albanian DMC Past & Present Journeys
correspond with international partners and suppliers for various issues. If I have any spare time, it’s always spent with the product guys who prepare new tours and update our existing programmes.
Q. What’s the biggest challenge you face on tours? A. Balancing the wishes of groups of people of different ages and backgrounds travelling together.
Q. What’s the most memorable moment on a tour? A. It is the farewell part. These are the reflecting moments of the tour, where people express their comments and emotions. There is nothing more rewarding in this job than when one sees that we have managed to make people’s holidays memorable and to have made a modest contribution to narrowing the gap between the perception of Albania and the reality.
Q. And your favourite part of the job? A. Of course it’s the travelling part and dealing with individuals and cultures from all over the world. It just gives one a totally new perspective.
QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS
Top travel moment? My first trip abroad – to Germany – after Albania was opened to the world remains unforgettable. Time spent in travel? 16 years Number of countries visited? 35 Last trip? South America Still on the wish list? Australia
touringandadventure.com
July 2019 | Travel Weekly touring adventure | 15
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PICTURES: ARMAND SALLABANDA
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