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Albania is recording an increase in the number of visitors, where the figures speak of an increase in tourists coming not only through the "Mother Teresa" airport, but also from the port of Durrës and other land border points.
Zak Topuzi, chairman of the Hotel-Tourism Association, told SCAN TV that the increase is 38%, but it is not the most visited coast, but Tirana and historical cities such as Gjirokastra, Berati, Kruja, etc.
"We have increased by 38%. As of 6 months, 95% of tourists in Albania are European tourists, almost 75% of them are from the region or Albanians who are emigrating and this is the main contingent that makes up tourism in Albania. For this we need to do a real analysis and how to serve you better." - says Topuzi.
Topuzi emphasizes that the promotion of Albania as a free country has damaged the sector.
"They are mostly people who come with a small budget. If you look at them at the airport, there are people traveling with 40 euro tickets. So, we do not pretend that they spend in expensive restaurants and hotels. And this is the problem that Albanian tourism has this year," says the president of the Hotel-Tourism Association.
Topuzi emphasizes that we should aim for sustainable tourism, where the challenges are many, from increasing the quality of services, accommodation capacities, to qualified staff. According to Topuz, even though salaries are competitive in this sector, we remain far from the countries of the region.
"Within 7 years, we have increased the accommodation capacity and even tripled it, while almost 45 thousand workers leave every year. We have 2 opposite actions, increasing capacity and need for manpower, and on the other hand, employees leave. According to the World Economic Forum, Albania is ranked 108 out of 117 countries for the short season. This short seasonality does not allow you to keep a qualified workforce." - adds Topuzi.
During this year, Albania will host 14 million visitors.
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