Cultural tourism/Gjirokastra Castle is the most visited in the country, Butrinti leads the parks

2023-08-28 11:54:00, Aktualitet CNA

Gjirokastra Castle

Interest in tourism in Albania has been expressed in all dimensions this year, starting from adventure tourism to cultural and sand and sea tourism.

The rapid increase in the number of foreign visitors, where in 7 months according to INSTAT 5.2 million citizens entered our territory, a historical record is predicted until the end of the year. Consequently, such a figure means even more visitors to cultural institutions in the country.

The official data of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment show a 67% increase in tourists in these institutions in June 2023 compared to the same period a year ago. As a 6-month period, the first half of 2023 marks a total increase of 53% of visitors to cultural institutions compared to the same 6-month period of the previous year.

But which are actually the most visited Forts in the country, National and Archaeological Parks?

"During the month of June 2023, the number of visitors to cultural institutions has increased to 67% compared to 2022. The largest number of visitors is the Gjirokastra Castle, followed by the Butrint National Park and the Shkodra Archaeological Park.

Below we give the table of visitation of cultural institutions compared in the last two years. In relation to the income from visitors to Cultural Institutions for this month, it results that 98,181,240 Lek have been benefited, this amount is 62% more than the income of the month of July 2022" it is said in a summary of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment that has source data obtained from the Ministry of Culture.

Specifically, Gjirokastra Castle was visited by 50.6 thousand visitors in the first 6 months of the year, more than double compared to the same period in 2022. The second in this category is the Amphitheater of Durrës with 9 thousand visitors and an increase of 64% in relation to the 6th month of 2022.

The third in terms of the number of visitors until June is the Castle of Porto Palermo.

Regarding institutions categorized as castles and other monuments, Butrint Park is the one that has the most attention.

In January-June, at least 37.2 thousand tourists have visited this park, while the Archaeological Park of Shkodra stands at the top of the Archaeological Parks with at least 53 thousand visitors or 30% more visitors in January-June 2023 compared to the same period a year ago. seen./ Retrieved from Monitor