Strengthening the tourism sector in Albania and the need for workforce

2024-11-29 21:58:12, Aktualitet CNA

In Albania, the number of foreign visitors who are visiting the mountainous areas in the North of the country as well as the historical centers continues to increase. Only during the month of October, Albania was visited by 9 percent more tourists compared to the same period of 2023. But, as the correspondent of the Voice of America, Pëllumb Sulo, announces, tourist operators continue to face difficulties in securing the labor force, this is due to of immigration and the limited opportunities of vocational schools and universities to prepare qualified employees and specialists for the tourism sector.

Even after the end of the summer tourist season, Albania continues to be visited by a large number of foreign visitors, especially in the mountainous areas in the North of the country as well as the historical centers. According to official data, during the month of October alone, Albania was visited by about 762 thousand foreign visitors, marking an increase of more than 9 percent, compared to the same period a year ago. Experts in the field say that, while the flow of foreign visitors is expected to increase, it is required that businesses prepare for finding and training staff, since, due to emigration, during the last two years they have encountered difficulties in securing the labor force. The director of the Regional Employment Office in Shkodër, Rozafa Zmijani, says that currently 530 vacancies are registered, but they, for the most part, do not meet the needs of the tourism sector.

"We had many offers of new jobs during the season, offers that are now decreasing, but we have not been able to meet the needs with manpower. We have to be realistic. We continue to have the same problem regarding the search for workers at the start of the season, the preparation of businesses to cooperate with us, with the professional training centers, with the university, so that they are prepared before the season".

Experts say that vocational schools and universities are a good opportunity to support the tourism sector with workforce and specialists. But, says the head of the tourism department at the University of Shkodra, Alkida Hasaj, they also have limited capacities in the face of the growing needs of the tourist market.

"The market is in great need of qualified personnel. Every day more and more we see requests from different businesses, but also organizations, looking for qualified staff and, normally, this gives priority to our students who finish their bachelor's or master's degree in the field of tourism, so that they can be employed by these businesses. Normally, they can support them at the management level, because they have good experience and good knowledge".

Students who complete their studies in the field of tourism, says Professor Hasaj, are a good opportunity for training other unqualified employees, who are involved in the tourism sector due to the lack of qualified workforce.

"Currently, we have about 200 students studying tourism at the bachelor's and master's level, and we also have ten students at the doctoral level, that is, at the third level of studies".

A regional program, "Your Job", of the Austrian Agency for Development and Charity supports young people for vocational training and employment in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Over the course of 5 years, this program has supported more than 800 young people in Albania to train, mainly in the services and tourism sector. But the head of the program, Julian Jana, says that, while most of them are employed, not a few of them have chosen to emigrate.

What is noticed among the tourist operators is the fact that they remember about the labor force at the moment when the tourist season starts, while young people, in a large part, have turned to the foreign market.

"I think that tourism sector businesses, says the director of the regional employment office, should be prepared to come to our centers in January and see what percentage of the workforce they can qualify so that they are ready for the season , to be ready for the development of their business and, why not, to keep them for a long period because this is also the goal, for their employment to be stable".

According to director Zmijani, demand and supply are not in balance in the tourism sector, so employee training, further salary increases and year-round employment are required, since the attraction of labor from abroad in the tourism sector is not that effective./ VOA