Travel in Albania

Albanian diaspora drives growth

With the exception of 2013, Albanian tourism grew at a double digit annual rate during the review period. Key factor for this growth was large Albanian diaspora. This growth allowed tourism players in Albania to explore the potential of other segments ie international visitors from large source markets such as EU countries or Turkey. Albanians are looking to attract these tourists with pristine beaches, new hotel developments and affordable prices.

Online bookings gain popularity

Online bookings became increasingly popular and grew faster than offline in all tracked travel parameters. International tourists drove the growth of online, but Albanians were also increasingly experimenting with the new format, particularly younger, well-educated segments of the population. Core population in Albania still made most of their travel reservations offline due to security concerns and limited penetration of debit/credit cards typically demanded for online transactions. Booking.com was the dominant player in online intermediaries.

Tourism becomes more competitive

Travel market in Albania was still very young in all its segments. Airlines demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit. Poorly capitalised low cost airlines entered in 2013, with four airlines specialising in routes linking Albania with Italy, looking to profit from soaring growth in demand. Competition was fierce, which led to price wars and eventually only one player was still in operation in 2014. Investors were drawn to invest heavily in all segments of Albanian tourism with promise of strong growth, but most are barely surviving the increasingly competitive environment.

Cooperating with neighbours

Sarande region is the fastest-growing tourist destination in Albania. It is the most southern region in Albania, bordering with well-developed travel destinations in Greece. It used this opportunity, initially cooperating with Greek partners to organise one-day trips from sites like Corfu island, drawing in an international crowd which was attracted by its natural beauty and affordability. Many of those one-day trips were translated into longer stays, since solid travel infrastructure was built in the region.

Continued investment in tourism foreseen over forecast period

Albania will be one of the fastest-growing travel destinations in Europe over the forecast period, although growth will likely be weaker than in the review period. International investors will increasingly look to profit as the political climate in the country continues to improve. Main trends to look out for in Albania over the forecast period are finding Albania’s place in cruise ships’ itineraries, arrival of international hotel chains and development of facilities for active vacations such as amusement parks, mountain destinations and spas.

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