TIRANA, August 27
The Institute of Statistics has published on Friday, 23 August 2019, the report titled ‘The movements of citizens, July 2019’ and according to the publication, 3.313.762 citizens have entered in Albania, during the period January-July 2019, increasing by 12.4% compared to the same period of last year.
July 2019
During July 2019, more than 1.1 million foreign citizens entered Albania, whereas the number of Albanians who visited their country last month was around 547.000 people. In total, the number of foreign and Albanian citizens who visited Albania in July 2019, was up by 11.4% compared to the same month of last year. The biggest number of entries came from the neighboring country, Kosovo, registering more than 448.000 Kosovans visiting Albania in July 2019, followed by North Macedonia, Italy, Greece, and Poland.
According to INSTAT, last month Kosovo citizens increased by 25%, whereas the most significant decrease was registered by Polish tourists, by 14.6%. The number of Polish tourists until a couple of years ago was very high, but because Albania is not one anymore in their top priority countries for their summer packages, they now fell to the 5th spot of foreign visitors.
January-July 2019
More than 3 million people entered Albania during the first 7 months of 2019, setting a new milestone regarding the foreign citizens visiting Albania. But we have to take into account that many of these foreign citizens could be as well Albanians who hold dual citizenship because of the country where they live and work for years. Again, for the period January-July 2019, the highest number of foreign entries were from Kosovo (more than 1 million), followed by North Macedonia, Greece, United Kingdom, and Montenegro. The highest number of foreign entries come from the neighboring countries of Albania, but even the English tourists prefer to visit Albania, too, as they are listed on the 4th spot.
Whereas, the tax placed on Kosovans on Durres-Kukes Highway also known as the Patriotic Highway, has not lowered their visits to Albania, especially during the summer season, where they increase considerably in numbers. During the first 7 months of 2019, Switzerland had the biggest flow of entries, up by 24.2%, whereas again Poland decreased by 10.6%. Regarding the Albanians, during the period of January-July 2019, more than 3.1 million went abroad for visits, increasing by 10.9% compared to the same period of last year. According to the Bank of Albania, the foreign citizens spent around €1.9 billion on their vacations in Albania.
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