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Shallow responsibility for tourism/ Albanian waters 'flooded' by pollution

2025-07-30 14:48:00, Denoncim CNA

Shallow responsibility for tourism/ Albanian waters 'flooded' by

For several years, Albania has become a well-known and preferred destination for foreign tourists who initially received information about our country from a bombardment of sponsored news in the most popular world media, including American, English and French ones, which had a significant impact on the growth of tourism figures year after year.

As the number of bookings from foreigners experienced an unprecedented increase not only in the summer season but also throughout the season, the opportunity seems to have been exploited to the maximum not only by businesses but also by the Ministry of Tourism itself, which also increased its performance at one of the most important world tourism fairs in Berlin, where it presented the offer, presenting the country as a perfect destination for mountain tourism, adventure, culinary, cultural, but especially for beach holidays.

The echo reached the prestigious National Geographic, which described the waters and shores of our sea as a surprising alternative to the Maldives. We do not deny either these large media or articles sponsored with thousands of euros that the beaches and waters are a gem of nature, but we cannot swallow the fact that nature includes the surface and also the depths of the marine waters, where other surprises await us, unfortunately bitter ones.

Madam Minister of Tourism today, and Mr. Minister of Tourism tomorrow, this is the reality: A 'mantle' of waste, or even pearls if you like, deposited for decades.

It took a voluntary action by several divers in the waters of Porto Palermo to show that the Maldives are not only very far from Albania in distance but also in terms of cleanliness. The latter does not come by itself, it takes care and especially culture for the environment, but also money.

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment may find itself comfortable with the increase in tourist spending, but it seems to be seriously ignoring its obligation to guarantee clean environmental standards.

Instead of taking concrete measures to clean beaches and control wastewater discharges, it has focused only on removing several hundred sun loungers in public spaces and cleaning the sand, sporadic actions and propaganda on social networks, which in any case remain at face value.

Environmental experts have warned that the lack of a sustainable environmental policy not only endangers the health of residents and vacationers, but also falls far short of claims to achieve elite tourism.

The situation requires urgent intervention from the government and especially from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, which to date has failed, not only to manage to place even a single blue flag, which indicates maximum beach and water quality, but has also shown irresponsibility.

We are sticking to the latter, because if we were to talk about vision, perhaps we would be difficult to understand. What is understood by those who get a little 'smell' of tourism is that Albania risks turning from a development opportunity into a long-term environmental and economic crisis./ CNA