Foreign Visitors to Albania Hit Record High in 2017

TIRANA, January 24

The number of international arrivals in Albania increased 8.1 percent year-over-year to 5.1 million in December 2017, the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) reported on Tuesday. Almost half of the visitors traveled to Albania for tourism and leisure purposes. Tourists came mostly from Kosovo. Even though over 1.7 million Kosovan citizens visited Albania, the country has seen a 19percent drop compared to 2016. This can be considered a sign of protest from Kosovan tourists against abusive pricing, lack of standards and quality, poor infrastructure. In the meantime, other competitive markets in the region are luring Kosovan tourists.
On the other hand, Albania received an increased number of visitors from countries like Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, England, and the Czech Republic increased significantly.

Macedonians rank second with 671,000 visitors, Greeks ranks in the third position with 490,000 visitors, and Montenegrins rank fourth with 380,000 visitors.
However, Italy is the country with the highest percentage of visitors compared to 2016. Italian citizens’ arrivals increased by 36 percent in 2017.
Albania has been mentioned in numerous articles as one of the cheapest and most overlooked destinations. Therefore, a new record of international arrivals is expected in 2018.
News Source: INSTAT
Photo: Qeparo Beach, Credit: Marlind Parllaku