“TEA 2.0”, is the dedicated National Tourism Platform, launched today by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, in the capacity of national coordinator, in coordination with the National Tourism Agency, as an important innovation in the field of tourism development, which will enable the marketing and promotion of the tourist product in all its dimensions, through the development of traditional and innovative events, propelling the active participation of tourists in Albanian experiences, attractions and potentials of tourist destinations at the national level.

Prime Minister Rama was also present at the presentation ceremony of the new platform, who said that technology will continue promoting tourism with new options, so that tourists have the most complete experience of visiting our country

“We see the year 2030 as a point where not only the transformation of the country until now will become irreversible, but where Albania will without a doubt radiate in this region the image of a country that is the Europe of the Balkans.” – said Prime Minister Rama in his speech.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Hello everyone and first of all thanks to the Governor and the Bank of Albania for the hospitality in this activity, which as far as I understand, is the first of its kind in the premises of this institution which, in addition to being a central institution of the Republic, is also an important monument of our cultural heritage, now restored to identity, but with a different function.

I am also glad that today we are here together with not only representatives of the tourism industry, who are our inseparable partners in this joint effort to give Albania this extraordinary dimension of transformation, but also representatives from the banking sector, the local government, and representatives from friendly countries.

I do not want to repeat what was said and not bore you with figures, but I want to share one figure which is very significant, unimaginable until not many years ago, very meaningful for what we are trying to do, but also very indicative of how we should continue.

The historical monuments and archaeological sites of our country have attracted 182,000 visitors in the first 4 months of this year alone. Meanwhile, our national and natural parks have been visited by about 800,000 visitors. These are staggering numbers if we consider where we started from, but where we started from is always less and less important for us, while always more and more important for us is where we want to go. We see the peak of 2030 as a point where not only the transformation of the country will become irreversible, but where Albania, without any doubt, will radiate in this region the image of a country that is the Europe of the Balkans.

Today you got to know the new version of the application, which is an important innovation in the field of tourism development and which will continue to be improved with an artificial intelligence generator, which will make it possible for all tourists and visitors to customize their travel plans and have 3D maps. What is important to note is that the application mirrors what happens in reality, and in the reality of tourism development, we have included a component that every year becomes more present, which is the component of daily cultural and artistic activity, as a space that offers tourists and visitors opportunities beyond the beach, sun, sand, food, hotel and that also offers them the opportunity to take away from Albania more knowledge about our country, to have much more to remember from our country and to have much more to talk about our place.

It is not disputed that this aspect encourages and supports our scene of cultural and artistic creativity, as well as definitely motivates those who are directly engaged in this new industry of Albania, who invest and who work with a lot of passion and with a lot of effort.

Furthermore, we are very aware that what is needed is more than what has been done, in the sense that Albania of 2030 must be a country and will be a champion country of this region in tourism, which will not only be permanently stabilized in the “Champions League” of the Mediterranean, but which will have completed all those parts of the mosaic that are still missing today, starting from the infrastructure for which we are doing very intensive work.

I believe you are aware that we have a new touristic season that opens with some great infrastructure available to visitors, starting from the Llogara tunnel, an old idea, a legendary promise of all political forces in all campaigns.

Continuing with the new Orikum-Dukat road, which reveals another unknown part of the wonderful body of Albania, continuing with the Thumanë-Kashar axis, an extremely important axis due to the very fact that the high flow of vehicles from the north towards Tirana or further south, during the intense tourist season, becomes unbearable. The year has really been a torture for travelers, but at the same time this axis is part of the Blue Corridor, which was another project or was another idea that was much laughed at when we presented it. With the axis Thumanë – Kashar, only one of its segments is completed, and in the following days, work will begin on other segments. The Kashar – Lekaj segment that will make possible a completely new highway to connect Tirana with Rrogozhina, and then Lekaj – Fier to go to Vlora, guaranteeing the conditions of a high-speed highway, while the existing roads will serve as alternatives.

With this infrastructure, which will be completely completed within this decade, the Albania of 2030 will have an absolutely spectacular tourist offer in terms of transport, in terms of all the flows that go to the coast, I am not going to dwell on the other parts of infrastructure related to Corridor 8, etc.

While the Vlora airport will in all likelihood complete the works within this year, it will have passed the test and certification period in the first six months of next year and with God’s help, will be operational in the next tourist season, with an operator whose name says it all: The Munich Airport. Meanwhile, the competition for Gjirokastra airport will be opened. From all the studies done as well as from all the lessons learned with the effort for the Saranda airport, we have come to the conclusion that the most ideal place to guarantee all the needs that aviation has, because of all the components related to all the wind corridors, is Gjirokastra.

In the end I want to talk about the ports because we are a country that inherited a situation of a black hole in the Mediterranean and a country that practically did not appear at all on the map of the tourist cruise of the Mediterranean, as you know, work has begun on the tourist port of Durrës, work has begun on the tourist port of Vlora, we are waiting for the completion of an absurdity related to the small port of Saranda, an absurdity of a legal nature, let’s say, but in fact it is not, it is very close to surrealist literature, and we are very optimistic that with the opening of this component of the sector, which is the tourist ports, the framework will not only be completed, but at the same time we will have a very significant increase, not simply in the number of visitors, because it is not the number of visitors what interests us exclusively, but the income from these visitors.

The monthly increase in the number of contracts for 5-star hotels is also very significant. There are here some of the main actors of the sector and they know very well that until a few years ago, the 5 stars’ hotels did not come close to the idea that they could come to Albania. While today it has become quite simple to attract them, with the necessary projects and destinations.

Having said all this, the icing on the cake is Tirana, which until a few years ago was a capital that was completely emptied in the summer, or rather, inhabited only by those who must be here to perform certain services in certain jobs or from those who are unable to leave for vacation, while today Tirana grows in number in the summer season due to the increase in the number of tourists.

If they would show us a few years ago MasterCard’s publication, which is a publication related to MasterCard users, where Tirana was the third country with the highest growth of tourists for this year, we would say that this is a very funny joke, but this is also a reality today.

These are all the reasons to feel optimistic, to feel encouraged, to feel convinced that this Albania has tourism as its meaningful business card, this Albania, that thanks to tourism and also as a result of the growth of the economy, and the emphasis that the government has placed on increasing wages, is becoming a country where for all those who are in services in neighboring countries it is better to be here than to be there. I understand very well why some of the protagonists of the sector shake their heads at this because they know better than anyone that they are able to offer competitive salaries with Greece, salaries more or less close to Italy in these services, but some face a wall of prejudice, a psychological obstacle, to understand that today Albania is ready, to integrate in the labor market in tourism those who have gained experience there, have learned to serve, have learned to work in the kitchen, have learned to work at the reception and so on, offering without question a very competitive opportunity. And if you see from afar the salary of a waiter in Greece and the salary of a waiter in Radhima, it looks like that waiter in Greece earns more, but if you then see that that waiter in Radhima after finishing his work goes to a house where he doesn’t pay rent, while that Albanian waiter in Greece goes to a house where he pays rent and then he sees that at the end of the month that waiter in Radhima has a lower tax liability, then things are differently.

Everything is different and therefore my belief is that the great change that happens every day will be extremely visible, tangible and unnecessary to question in a few years, when we climb to the top of Albania 2030, and when without question, we are in the conditions that we will not sit around waiting for how many more tourists will come, but we will be careful to maintain the balance between the number and income, without going only after the number, but going after the income too. Thank you!