The Albanian Minister for Tourism and Environment, Blendi Klosi, declared that the tourism for this year will be based on the internal and regional one. He underlined that there will also be foreign tourists, especially in the Russian market.
“In 2020 we earned a new market with holidaymakers from the region. This year we received tourists from Ukraine and Belarus. We are hoping for the Russian and the Polish market this year. But the main source will be the internal tourism and regional one. It is now time for Albania to be a strong competitor in the regional tourism”, Klosi declared.
However, the Minister says that if the COVID-19 restrictive measures continue, it will be hard to receive organized tourism in August and September.
One of the issues that tourism could face in this season, according to the Minister, would be the labor force and the service quality.
“Will the Albanian accommodation industry be able to preserve the standards of 2019? Are we going to have a workforce? Another problem will be the division of the spaces on beaches. We may have problems due to the lack of guarantee for a high number of tourists”, Klosi declared.
Minsiter Klosi: Is Albania ready to offer good tourism? This is the big question
The Albanian Minister for Tourism and Environment declared that after the completion of several projects in the country, such as the Arber Road and the Kukes and Vlora Airports, the tourism sector in Albania may move to another level.
This level may face problems with the lack of qualified staff to offer the appropriate service.
“The increased public investments, such as the Fier bypass, the Vlora bypass, the opening of the Kukes Airport, the construction of the Vlora and Saranda Airports, the consutrction works at the Durres Port, will take Albanai to another level. My appeal goes to businesses. They must prepare for another level of tourism in Albania, with more rules, demands and responsibility.
“Opening Albania with the above-mentioned projects will turn this business into a direct competitor with the other countries of the region. Are we ready as a society to serve tourism? This is the biggest question that I have. Are we ready to offer the appropriate servers for the tourism sector? This is the big question that has received a negative answer so far”, Klosi declared.