ALBANIA: THE BALKAN FORTRESS OPENS UP TO THE WORLD
With its cultural wealth, splendid mountain ranges, unspoilt beaches and ambitious hotel projects, Albania has all the ingredients to become a destination that counts in international tourism. |
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ALBANIA: THE BALKAN FORTRESS OPENS UP TO THE WORLD
With its cultural wealth, splendid mountain ranges, unspoilt beaches and ambitious hotel projects, Albania has all the ingredients to become a destination that counts in international tourism. |
Category: Europe - Albania - Industry economy
- Hotel opening - Hotel projects - Tourism
Article written by Romane Le Royer on 2024-05-14
It was made official on 6 March 2024: Albania will be the host country for ITB Berlin 2025. Albania's Minister of Tourism, Mirela Kumbaro, took the opportunity to extol the country's virtues. ‘Albania doesn't fit any of the usual stereotypes; on the contrary, it's a small, slightly mystical country where travellers can enjoy new experiences’, she observes.
Dubbed the ‘Pearl of the Balkans’, Albania is increasingly establishing itself as a favourite destination for tourists, following in the footsteps of Croatia and Georgia. The country welcomed more than 10 million travellers in 2023, ranking fourth in terms of the highest percentage increase in international tourist arrivals, with 56% growth over 2019, and first in Europe in the same ranking.
The Albanian government is a major player in this tourism boom: in addition to Tirana international airport, the country's main source of air traffic, and Kukës airport, which is open during the tourist season, Prime Minister Edi Rama has contributed to the construction of a new airport at Vlorë, which should see the first planes land on its tarmac in spring 2025. A fourth international air terminal is due to be built in the south-east of the country, at Gjirokastër, as the call for tenders for the construction of this airport is due to be launched in May.
One of the country's biggest ports, at Durrës, will also be modernised to better accommodate the growing number of tourists. Emaar Group, the Dubai-based real estate company responsible for major constructions such as the Burj Khalifa, has begun transforming the port into a major tourist hub.
Hotel groups are well aware that Albania represents a new territory for tourism in Europe. For almost a decade, in anticipation of the explosion in local and international tourism, groups such as Meliá, IHG and Marriott have been launching luxury hotel projects.
Indeed, IHG Hotels & Resorts has chosen Albania for its future. Interviewed by the Journal des Palaces on 13 May 2024, Hylko Versteeg, the group's head of development for Southern Europe, said that Albania was ‘one of their key Balkan countries due to its ‘its strategic location offers a plethora of opportunities due to the diversity of tourism it attracts, including corporate travellers and leisure guests. We are seeing an increasing interest from investors, which presents numerous development opportunities for IHG.’
The InterContinental Tirana, due to open in spring 2025, will offer visitors 280 rooms and suites in the heart of the city, on Skanderbeg Square. The five-star hotel will also offer luxury gastronomy, with several restaurants, as well as wellness facilities including swimming pools, a spa, sauna and hammam. In terms of entertainment, the hotel will also offer a children's club, a library and a casino, as well as a function room for up to 1,000 people. IHG will also be opening a second hotel, a Crowne Plaza, this time on the Mediterranean coast at Dürres.
The group is also considering other opportunities in the country. ‘We are always looking for exciting projects and opportunities to strengthen our presence in Albania and meet a wide range of travel needs. At the moment, we are focused on developing key cities such as Tirana, Durrës and Vlorë, as well as luxury leisure destinations such as Ksamil, Saranda and Lalez Bay, to name but a few. We're looking forward to talking about it soon,’ says Hylko Versteeg.
The Spanish group Meliá Hotels International has also made Albania one of its international priorities, becoming the country's majority international hotel group. With the first opening of a five-star hotel in Dürres in May 2023, the group has inaugurated three other complexes (including a five-star hotel in Velipoja). Gabriel Escarrer, the group's CEO, said at the FITUR 2024 international trade fair that he wanted to ‘make an even greater commitment’ to the country, with three hotel projects under construction, including the brand's future flagship hotel, a five-star property in the heart of the capital. By 2030, nearly 20 Meliá hotels are expected to be built. ‘Albania has everything it takes to become a major destination’ says Gabriel Escarrer.
As for Marriott International, the Tirana Marriott opened its doors in March 2023: a five-star hotel with 155 rooms and suites, restaurant, and spa, right in the city centre. The group has also signed a deal to open a second five-star hotel with 150 rooms in Vlorë, due to open in 2028.
Despite the increase in tourist numbers, Albania remains an unspoilt jewel. On the one hand, the country offers sublime mountain landscapes: the ‘Albanian Alps’ (or ‘cursed mountains’) to the north and the Kobal mountain range to the east offer a wealth of hiking opportunities in both summer and winter. The Albanian Alps are also the starting point for the transnational Balkan Peaks trail, which also crosses Montenegro and Kosovo: 192 kilometres of unspoilt countryside where you can meet the Albanians, renowned for their warm welcome.
While the mountainous terrain is sumptuous, it's the beaches lining the 100-kilometre Albanian Riviera, which are bathed in the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, that are particularly appealing. Nicknamed the ‘Maldives of Europe’, the Albanian coastline is full of wonders: turquoise waters, white sand, hidden coves...
The Butrint national park, in the south of the country and at the heart of the Vlorë prefecture, is home to many treasures: an archaeological site listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a splendid lagoon, the famous paradise islands of Ksamil, the ‘pearl’ of the coastline, and a rich flora and fauna with over 1,200 species of plants and animals.
Albania also boasts Europe's last wild river - outside Russia - the Vjosa. Situated on the border between Albania and Greece, the Vjosa has been protected by the Albanian government since March 2023, with the entire river classified as a ‘wild river national park’, a first on the European continent.
With all these assets, and many more besides, the country has no shortage of resources to attract tourists from all over the world. And with a booming hotel sector, there's no doubt that, like Croatia a few years before it in terms of tourism, Albania is looking to the future with ambition and serenity.
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