Albania set a record in Europe for tourism in 2023/ With the highest increase in net-stays

2024-03-13 07:24:00, Aktualitet CNA

Albania set a record in Europe for tourism in 2023/ With the highest increase in

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Albania has marked a real tourism boom in 2023, both for domestic and foreign tourism.

The latest data published by Eurostat on overnight stays in tourist accommodation for the whole of Europe show that the nights spent in hotels and similar structures in 2023 increased in Albania by 56.8% compared to 2022, while they were 84.7% more higher than in 2019, before pandemic restrictions began.

Compared to the average of the European Union and other European countries, the growth is very high. The European Union saw an expansion of 6.1% of net-stays in 2023 in relation to 2022, while compared to 2019 by 1.4%.

The second country with the highest increase in net-stays after Albania is Malta with 20.5% and Cyprus with 20%, compared to 2022. Data for Montenegro are not available.

High growth was noted for both domestic and international tourists. In 2023, net-stays of international visitors to Albania increased by 81.7%, from -0.3% which was the difference for the European Union. The second country with the best performance of international visitors' online stays was Serbia with 39.3%.

Net-stays by domestic visitors in Albania increased by 90.3%, from the 2.8% average of the European Union, while the first place was taken by Iceland, with 109.3%.

Europe, tourism slowly revives

According to Eurostat, in 2023, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation structures in the European Union reached 2.9 billion, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2022 and an increase of 1.4% compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019.

In 2023, 24 out of 25 EU countries with available data exceeded 2022 levels in terms of nights spent. The highest increases were recorded in Malta and Cyprus, where both countries saw a 20% increase in overnight stays compared to 2022, followed by Slovakia with a 16% increase. A small decrease in the number of nights was recorded in Luxembourg (-1%).

Slovakia and the Czech Republic saw the highest growth in overnight stays by international visitors, with both countries experiencing a 29% increase in 2023 compared to 2022. They were followed by the Netherlands and Romania, each with a 23% increase. . In contrast, Luxembourg saw a stable number of nights spent by international visitors (0%), while Croatia recorded a modest increase of 2%.

In terms of domestic visitors, Greece recorded the highest increase in the number of overnight stays, with a 13% increase in 2023 compared to 2022, followed by Slovakia (+11%) and Bulgaria (+9%). The biggest decline in overnight stays by domestic visitors was observed in Slovenia (-17%), Hungary (-5%) and Luxembourg (-4%).

Exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2023

By May 2022, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation approached pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, only March (-4%), June (-2%), July (-1%) and November (-1%) witnessed a decrease in numbers compared to 2019. Despite these fluctuations, the overall trend for 2023 showed an increase in the total number of nights spent, reaching a record number of nights and approaching the figure of 3 billion nights per year./ Monitor Magazine