 |
According to the Albanian State Statistics Institute (INSTAT), Greece and Italy are the main tourist destinations for Albanians. Then Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey and Germany
Greece and Italy are the main destinations for about half of the Albanians who spend their holidays abroad.Given that it is not surprising that about one million Albanians live and work between Greece and Italy; a constantly increasing figure since the beginning of the 1990s, after the collapse of the communist regime in Albania.
The INSTAT data:
Greece was the main destination for 28% of Albanians, who spent an average of 5.7 nights in 2017.
The Greece - a destination easily reachable through several border crossings in the South-East of Albania and where the holidays are much cheaper than other major European destinations - was visited by 829,000 Albanians in 2017, who spent in Greece about 190 million euros according to Insete (the intelligence agency of the Greek tourism confederation).
Italy, on the other hand, was the destination chosen by 20% of Albanians in 2017, with an average stay of 9.6 days and an average spending of 46 € per day. In total, about 500,000 Albanians have chosen Italia.
Even if exact figures are not available on travel in Italy, the ports of Durazzo and Valona - which offer daily connections with Italian ports - have had a flow of about one million passengers during 2017; while Rinas International Airport - where more than half of passengers travel to and from Italy - had a flow of about 2.6 million.
The other destinations
The countries that border Albania as well and which are mostly characterized by the Albanian ethnic group - Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia - are the main destinations for about 35% of Albanians who have spent their holidays abroad in 2017.
Among the most chosen destinations, surprisingly, there is also Germany, which was a destination for 3% of Albanians with an average stay of about 11 days, mainly due to the growing interest of Albanian residents to live and work in the main European economy .
Turkey is also becoming a tourist destination for Albanians, attracted by cheap all-inclusive packages in Turkey's tourist resorts, which also include charter flights.
Data published by the Turkish tourism ministry show that over 107,000 Albanians have visited Turkey during the first ten months of this year, an increase of 20% over the same period of last year.