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Museums/ Record attendances from tourism, potential for business promotion

2024-04-27 08:28:00, Ekonomi CNA

It's almost 11:00. After a not-so-comfortable journey, on a road that doesn't leave you feeling at all that you are going to a tourist destination, we park and pass from the former Tourism in Krujë to the "Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu" National Museum. We exchange with the locals who are quietly going about their routine.

Our expectation was perhaps to encounter a little more foreigners, an idea created by the tourism figures clearly increasing in the number of visitors, but also the increased interest in the Museum of this city, as reported by the statistics.

We can see the first tourists in the cafe between the Bazaar and the Museum Entrance. You hear them speaking Italian, Spanish, English – talking to each other or giving orders, but the number is still modest in this mid-April.

We pass the large entrance gate to the Castle and go towards the Museum. Here the panorama changes, as the number is no longer as modest as it seemed to us at first. There are whole groups of tourists standing together at the exit when they have just finished visiting the museum.

Some are taking the last photos, others are standing quietly talking, facing the front of the museum. You can easily tell that they are tourists from Asian countries. With a non-fluent English, one of them tells us that they are organized tourists from China on a 10-day regional cultural tour, where three days are dedicated to Albania.

"We like Albania, it's different," he says. And when we ask for details on that "different" he says: culture, construction, people are different, something atypical for their style.

In addition to Kruja, the route included Tirana and Shkodra, to then go to Montenegro. The final destination for this organized group would be Serbia.

We leave them behind and enter the museum. The tickets, which are waiting for you at the entrance, cost 500 Lek and give you the opportunity to visit the museum through a barcode pass. Once passed, the first pavilion is that of antiquity. We ask if there is a guide or if there is a translation that you can get for orientation when a tourist expresses the desire to have this.

"The data for each of the halls is in audio form and can be heard in the respective environment. Of course, in cases where we have groups, we also enable guided tours", - assures us Klodian Loka, responsible at the Museum of Kruja, who decides to accompany us on this visit.

Foreigners, more and more interested in cultural tourism

The number of foreign visitors to the museum has always been increasing. The official data published by the Ministry of Tourism show that in total, in the museums of the country, in January 2024, we have an increase of 83% of visitors compared to January of the previous year.

"This period there are many tourists from China, as it coincides with the Chinese New Year. During the pandemic, this group stopped, but now it has returned and in striking numbers. There are visitors from Europe, mainly Spanish, Polish.

The latter were an important group even last year because they come organized and stay in the area of ??Durrës and Golem.

Cultural tourism seems to be attracting more and more attention and this year we expect to have groups organized from the United States of America, as there are tour operators who have signed contracts.

We are dealing with tours for an elite category of tourists and we want personalized guides", Mr. Loka tells us. He underlines that tourists from China have a special interest in Albania, starting from the nostalgia of the 60s-70s when we had political relations with them, but also from the movies.

Meanwhile, the Poles have a weakness especially for Kruja, according to him, as they associate this with their faith. "They are Catholics and they care about Skenderbeu. The same thing happens with the Italians who are interested in Kruja, in the history and what this museum represents", underlines Mr. Loka.

Fjoralba Prifti, director of the Museum of Medieval Art in Korça, affirms the same tendency for foreigners, where, according to her, cultural institutions are viewed with interest.

"The interest of visitors has always been increasing, where the most and those most interested have been foreigners. The city of Korça and the museum have always been visited, mainly by French tourists, and then by Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, etc., whose number increased significantly in 2023. Also, the number of visitors from the continents has increased other", says Mrs. The priest.

Official data made available by the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation clearly show that cultural tourism will follow the upward trend of the tourism sector in general.

"Compared to the months of January-February 2023, visitation in the same period of 2024 has increased by 75.08%. Compared to the months of January-February 2022, visitation in the same period in 2024 has increased by 110.66%.

Compared to the months of January-February 2021, visitation in the same period of 2024 has increased by 285.27%," the Ministry reports.

In parallel with the visitors, the incomes in these institutions have also increased. During 2023, the income from visitors, in cultural institutions for 2023, was over 342 million ALL, about 43.2% more than the income received during 2022.

Tourists are driving business models, but institutions cannot keep up

Investments in accommodation through special structures or adapted apartments have marked a significant increase in recent years. Kruja seems not to have escaped this trend, turning from a destination that was visited during the day to a destination where you can stay for a night or two.

Vetëm në Booking sot janë të regjistruara mbi 20 struktura, ndërsa në AirBNB mbi 94 njësi. Biznesi është i pari që e ka kuptuar nevojën që sjell ky vrull i turizmit dhe po udhëheq në planet e zhvillimit.

Dragush Gega, sipërmarrës i cili ka investuar në një restorant në Krujë, shprehet se rritja e turizmit e ka bërë të mendojë seriozisht për një investim në akomodim, ndoshta për një rigjallërim të ish-Turizmit të qytetit, që aktualisht është i braktisur dhe në gjendje të amortizuar.

Teksa biznesi po bën të vetën për t’ju përgjigjur këtij ritmi duket se qeveria apo institucionet nuk po arrijnë ta kapin atë. Rruga që të çon drejt qytetit të Krujës ka nevojë urgjente për ndërhyrje. Po kështu, transporti mbetet një problem më vete.

Turistët nuk kanë shumë kohë për të shpenzuar në qytet, teksa u duhet që me një frymë të shohin gjithçka në të dhe brenda orës 16:00 të largohen pasi nuk ka mundësi të tjera të transportit publik.

Në qytetin turistik, ende nuk ka një pikë informacioni ku çdo i huaj apo edhe vendas që vjen të ketë mundësinë të konsultohet për të marrë detaje mbi pikat më tërheqëse për të vizituar, për t’u ushqyer, për të kaluar kohën.

Mbi të gjitha duket se ka një indiferentizëm për të shkuar drejt shfrytëzimit të plotë të potencialit që ka ky rajon. Kruja mund të ishte shumë mirë një pikë edhe për turistët religjiozë me Sarisalltikun, apo për ata që duan të vijojnë edhe më tej në Parkun Kombëtar të Qafështamës, por kufizohen nga koha apo marketimi i dobët në një paketë të integruar të të gjithë potencialeve që paraqet kjo zonë.

Qytetit i mungojnë gjithashtu alternativat për jetën e natës, apo aktivitetet e posaçme, ku rolin kryesor në organizim e kanë institucionet vendore. Turistët e duan traditën dhe kulturën dhe këtë më së miri e tregon suksesi i disa nismave të konsoliduara që kanë krijuar “markën e tyre”.

“Për Krujën, grupe me 100 turistë në ditë të ftohta funddimri bëjnë diferencën. Rrisin ndikimin në qytet, pasi konsumojnë në restorantet e qytetit, presin bileta për të parë Muzeun, shohin shfaqje apo ‘folk show’ që u duket interesant, siç është edhe grupi i Pleqve të Krujës, që u duket mjaft i veçantë dhe diçka për të cilën paguajnë.

Të gjitha këto janë përfitime që vijnë për qytetin dhe ndoshta me pak më shumë nxitje të të gjithë palëve bashkë mund të jepte një efekt edhe më të madh”, – shprehet z.Loka.

Si po “humbasin” vlerat e punishteve në qytete

Pazari i Krujës, i rikonceptuar si një zonë biznesi në një format të zbatuar edhe në një sërë qytetesh të tjera në vend përmes Fondit Shqiptaro-Amerikan, mbetet zemra e traditës së qytetit. Por rrahjet e saj janë të ngadalta, të paktën këtë të transmetojnë tregtarët e vendosur aty.

Shumica e produkteve që tregtohen nuk prodhohen më në qytet dhe nuk kanë asnjë përfaqësim të traditës apo kulturës së tij. Ata pak që ende prodhojnë në punishtet e tyre sixhade, qeleshe apo elemente të ngjashme shprehen se janë drejt dorëzimit.

Dallandyshe Tabaku, who has a shop in this area since 1993, today works alone.

"I used to have a workshop with 10 women working on the loom. Today it's just me. Tourists are not interested in buying products of this level, as the cost of handwork is high.

They prefer to get a machine work which is much cheaper, even though it does not represent at all the values ??that the loom work has.

I have also taught my daughter how to work on the loom, even though she is not interested as she is a dentist by profession, but rather pushed for the sake of habit to have it as knowledge", she says.

But which tourists buy the most? Ms. Tabaku tells us that the Albanians of the diaspora are more interested in souvenirs or handicrafts. "They don't save on expenses, they get more and have interest. Foreigners prefer smaller things and don't really care what it is. They want cheap gifts", she claims.

In her shop you can find a variety of products and not all of them are made in the city when it comes to handicrafts.

"Still, as a network of artisans, we have cooperation throughout Albania, for example we get filigree from Shkodra. But the circle is getting smaller and smaller, as tradition is being lost and replaced by technology. Here at Pazar we are all the same businesses, with the same products, and that makes survival difficult.

The opening of businesses by institutions should be better studied and oriented towards new activities that do not repeat the existing ones. There are days when we don't sell anything, despite this influx of tourists coming to the city," she underlines.

Tourism is a golden opportunity for the sector and all related industries, but it seems that what is missing is the need for orientation, where all parties sit down and fill in the missing pieces to achieve the best.

The sudden arrival of this tourist flow seems to have found unprepared the institutions that are letting the developments follow their course, how come and under the motto "to win what is to be won", when in fact they should be leaders towards the objectives of clear.

The income from cultural institutions in 2023 was 3 million euros

The income generated from the number of visitors to cultural institutions last year increased by 43.2 percent compared to the previous year.

The report of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment that refers to the data declared by museums and archaeological parks in the country shows an increase in attention that is reflected in more money collected.

"Regarding the income from visitors, in Cultural institutions for 2023, 342 million ALL have been received, which is about 43.2% more than the income received during 2022," the report states.

This amount of more than 3 million euros came as a result of 1 million visitors to 28 cultural institutions evaluated for reporting, of which 12 are museums and 7 are castles, amphitheatres, monasteries and 9 are archaeological parks./Monitor