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The tourism sector in Albania is experiencing an increasing need for workers due to high rates of emigration among young people, as well as challenges with the qualification of staff.
Vocational education, although prioritized by the authorities, has been witnessing a decline in the number of students year after year.
According to official data, in the current academic year, there are about 2,200 fewer students enrolled in vocational education in Albania compared to two years ago.
Researchers argue that attention in tourism should be focused on human resource development, as well as the investments being made.
The tourism sector is rapidly growing in Albania due to increased tourist arrivals and investments that now extend beyond the coastal areas to rural regions.
"The prospects look very promising," says Daniela Qiqi to VOA, a tourism lecturer at the University of Gjirokastër. However, one of the main challenges turning into a hidden wound is related to employment in tourism, according to Ms. Qiqi.
"Employment in tourism" is the hidden wound that concerns all small and medium-sized businesses operating in the tourism sector and worries us, who are preparing employees for these businesses."
Ms. Qiqi further states that the current situation is linked to a primary focus on investments in tourism and inadequate attention to human resources.
"This challenge may have arisen from the focus that has been, until now, on investments in tourism and appropriate infrastructure for sector development, without taking care of the workforce."
The tourism lecturer at the University of Gjirokastër states that the tourism sector is a service-oriented sector and requires human capacity.
Tourism is more sensitive than other sectors when it comes to employees for several reasons. It is a service-oriented sector, and the scope for technology development and equipment utilization is more limited than in other enterprises."
Recently, the University of Gjirokastër launched a two-year program for assistant managers in tourism services, but there are significant opportunities for further qualifications, says Ms. Qiqi.
Vocational education in Albania serves as a good foundation for the tourism sector, but official data year after year show a decline in the number of students.
According to the Institute of Statistics, in the 2020-2021 school year, there were 19,024 students enrolled in vocational education in Albania, compared to 18,279 the previous year and 16,813 in the current academic year.
At the Vocational High School in Gjirokastër, its director, Renata Puleri, states that the employment rate of graduates from this school is considerably higher compared to graduates from general high schools.
Everyone sees that vocational education is the future. For the simple reason that it prepares and qualifies students for the job market. This school offers the directions that the job market demands, and experience has shown that graduates from this school are employed at a rate of over 70%.
Vocational education is offered in Albania in 35 vocational schools, as well as 10 vocational training centers that provide qualification courses.
Rudiana Hajredini, a specialist at the Regional Vocational Training Directorate in Gjirokastër, says that around 600 trainees receive qualifications each year in several fields, with tourism being a primary one.
Most of the courses, according to Ms. Hajredini, are conducted in partnership with businesses, which facilitates further employment.
According to tourism sector researchers, professional trainings in many cases have little impact on the labor market as skilled young people leave for European countries.
The most intensive period of tourism in Albania in the past years was during the summer, but recently there is an ever-greater year-round extension of forms of tourism, which require stable human resources.