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Tourism, Italians and Poles did not leave Albania even in winter

2024-03-22 07:14:00, Ekonomi CNA

Italians and Poles have continued to be interested in Albania even during the winter months.

Official tourism statistics, which focus on the countries from which visitors came in January, show that the number of Italian tourists has increased by at least 50% in January 2024 compared to January 2023, while the number of Polish tourists has increased by at least four times.

The latter for years are the most consolidated group of organized tourism that takes place in the country mainly in Golem, Durrës during the summer months, they seem to see Albania as an interesting destination even in the winter.

In total, the official figure of those who are classified as tourists according to the publication of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment is 469 thousand.

"Referring to the purpose declared by foreign citizens who visit Albania, it turns out that during the first month of the year, 469,543 "tourists" entered, which are visitors who spend more than one night inside the Albanian territory. As noted, we have a decrease for visitors who come for health and religious purposes," the publication underlines.

What stands out from the figures is the increase in the number of tourists from neighboring countries, mainly what is known as patriotic tourism. Specifically, about 216 thousand citizens entered from Kosovo in January 2024 with an increase of about 30% compared to the same period a year ago.

From North Macedonia, in January, 47.4 thousand citizens entered our country with an increase of 9% compared to January 2023, while also from Montenegro there is an increase in arrivals by at least 32.6%.

The growth that comes from Italy but also from Greece, despite the fact that it can be described as a contribution of tourism, is actually more related to the large community of Albanian immigrants in these two neighboring countries and who have documents from neighboring countries. From Greece, the number of visitors was 38.7 thousand tourists with an increase of 10%.

2024 is expected to be another good tourist year for Albania, where tourist operators expect that we will continue with another record figure in terms of the number of visitors.

The interest in our country is clearly seen from the sale of packages by organized tourism agencies, where at least 60% of them were sold by February./Monitor