The Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro held today a press conference on the annual analysis of the Ministry and to present the 2024 priorities in the field of tourism and the environment. Minister Kumbaro said that 2023 was the best year for tourism, as a result of the successful cooperation between the actors of the sector, the legal framework, but also the good promotion of the country. 10.1 million tourists visited Albania in 2023, from all six continents, where Europe holds the main weight of inflows, but the most interesting trends of last year were the flows of Spanish, Dutch and Italian tourists. There was also a significant increase in arrivals from Turkey, with 200,000 tourists, or 110% more than the previous year.
In her speech, Minister Kumbaro said that the largest visitor flows are concentrated on the coast, so in these years a new standard has been set in terms of use, management and cleanliness.
“The mandatory area of public beaches in each municipality has increased to 30%, in some cases even 50%. Applications for the management of beach areas for 2024 were completed in 2023. A total of 1,917 applications are being examined, and contracts between municipalities, the National Coastal Agency and companies will be signed by March. I would like to emphasize that all revenues will go to the municipalities. As far as cleaning is concerned, we are continuing the “Clean Beaches” operation, which begun in 2022 by doubling the cleaning frequency on the coasts of Durrës, Kavaja, Himara and Saranda.
In 2023, we added Rogozhina and Vlora, and for 2024, the number of municipalities that will be supported by AKB with an additional operator from June to September will be 8, as Shkodra with the beach of Velipoja and the beaches of Lezha will be added to this scheme. There are already 107 maritime tourism operators certified by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. We had excellent cooperation this year with the Border Police, which last year was equipped with its own fleet, and I call on all entities that exercise economic activity in maritime tourism to be certified, the process is open throughout the year,” said Minister Kumbaro, referring to the preparations for 2024.
Among the successes of tourism for 2023, Minister Kumbaro also mentioned the promotion of 1100 events and 25,000 downloads of the TEA application, expressing the ambition that this digital calendar of events will become a “one-stop shop” that, in addition to promotion, will also enable inter-business communication. Meanwhile, work continues on the drafting of the 2024-2030 Tourism Strategy with support from the German International Cooperation (GIZ), as well as the new Tourism Bill, which will be presented to the Government next week. Minister Kumbaro said that there are positive trends towards formalization, as a result of a major communication and awareness campaign, which is benefiting the business and public sectors, as categorized hotels pay a reduced VAT of 6%, regardless of whether they are guesthouses or 5-star hotels.
In terms of the environment, Albania is coming out of the Year of the Environment, during which a national park was declared and a feasibility study carried out. “We declared the Vjosa National Park and carried out the feasibility study in an international process certified by the IUCN. And it was precisely the process of announcing Vjosa, a model highly appreciated worldwide, the godfather of Albania’s membership at state level, with full rights in IUCN, in December. Continuing with Vjosa, we ended the year 2023 with the development of the international competition for the construction of the Multifunctional Centre of the National Park, with a center in Tepelena and two antennas in Përmet and Nartë. There were 3 international finalists, where the CEBRA studio was declared the winner. Construction will start this year,” said Minister Kumbaro. Meanwhile, the work for the registration of Vjosa in UNESCO will begin in January. Speaking about the environment, Minister Kumbaro said that this was a successful year for protected areas, with 4.5 million visitors.
Minister Kumbaro also highlighted two important projects for the environment with the European Union, EU4Nature for management plans of protected areas and EU4Rivers for water management, aligning them with EU standards.
“In 2024, we will have a very close cooperation with the National Agency of Information Society for the construction of a Digital Integrated Environmental System at the KMA,” Minister Kumbaro added.
At the end of the conference, Minister Kumbaro said that the year 2024 will be dedicated to forests, with reforestation, awareness and education campaigns.