Disappointing summer for tourism/ Albania is increasingly visited by "misers"

2025-09-06 08:28:00, Ekonomi CNA

Disappointing summer for tourism/ Albania is increasingly visited by

This summer has been marred by the disappointment of a tourist season, where real developments did not match expectations at the beginning of the year. Hotel structures in the South have reported a 30% drop in revenue compared to summer 2024, while in the North, this drop was 10-15%.

The reason is the change in the target group that is visiting us, where those with low budgets predominate massively. Durrës has shown the highest stability on the entire coast.

For 2026, the guaranteed contracts have remained the same as in the summer of 2025, but a positive signal is the entry of the French market. Due to the deteriorating image, foreign agencies have added a clause that gives them the right to withdraw 20% of the contracts by the end of the year if sales do not go as planned.

In total, 2025 is expected to reach last year's figures for the number of foreigners, with the expectation that cultural tours will compensate for the summer's decline.

"After 12 days it's time to return to Portugal. Albania is a beautiful country but it's not yet ready to welcome so many tourists. A place you can see once and it's obvious you won't come back."

Goodbye Albania.

PS: The people are very nice.” This is Fernando's comment from Portugal, on his way home after a vacation in our country. A beautiful and sad comment at the same time.

This summer, unlike the past two, where positivity prevailed, has been divided between disappointment and beauty, with the balance leaning towards the former.

That tourism, like any sector, will have its own trajectory of ups and downs is not a surprise, but as a country with active promotion in international media, which is still continuing vigorously, such a swing was very rapid.

The reasons why tourism's success faded in the first months of this year and continued even more noticeably during the summer are several and include all parties from government to business.

Prices drove away Italians and Kosovo, service Albanian Diaspora

At the end of 2024, tour operators expected 2025 to have similar performance to last year.

Promotion in international media, the power of social networks, Albania's active participation in international events such as IBT Berlin, in which we were a place of honor, was expected to give another boost to the sector.

But since February, a slowdown in tourism was clearly visible, continuing with a step back in March and modest growth thereafter.

By the end of May, the picture was clear. Individual hotel bookings for the summer season were lower, a sign that the summer would not be as expected.

In the South of the country, the cause of the decline has been price instability and the establishment of a fair price/service ratio. The groups that were absent and that made the difference are Italians, Kosovo and the Albanian Diaspora in general.

The reason why we have not had a better summer season, as we expected, has to do with the trends shown by the main groups that maintain this tourism in the country.

Firstly, we have an outflow of tourists from the Italian market, secondly, a lower presence of Kosovo Albanians and thirdly, a lower number of the Albanian diaspora in the West.

The first two groups are affected by prices and this is their response to price fluctuations in our country, while the Diaspora was absent because it is disappointed.

This group of Albanians living abroad did not have price as their main criterion, but the quality of service.

"After many opportunities that have been given to the Albanian coast, where they know they will pay dearly, but do not get what they pay for, they have been disappointed and have given up, looking for other places where they pay but receive quality service," says Rrahman Kasa, Chairman of the Albanian Tourist Union.

Albania is increasingly being visited by "stingy" tourists

Promoting itself as a cheap destination, as Albania is, in fact, compared to other countries in the region or in Europe, has attracted those who want to explore at the lowest possible cost.

The tourist visiting Albania is not looking for luxurious experiences or summer vacations that they can find in countries like Italy, Spain, or Greece.

He seeks to spend as little as possible on accommodation, transportation, and food, and get the most out of a place he sees as his next adventure.

It is precisely this approach of Albania as a free country that has also changed the tourist who is visiting it, who is less qualitative in terms of spending than the traditional tourist.

As a result, bookings are lower in hotels and high inflows in apartments sold on Airbnb or Booking platforms.

The beach is a short stop on its day and public, cashless alternatives are the preferred solution, unlike the daytime connection with an umbrella and two sun loungers that in some cases cost as much as a night's accommodation.

Traditional home-cooked meals, fast food, and supermarkets dominate over expensive bars and restaurants.

Public transportation is a sought-after form whenever it is convenient, but the lack of alternatives sometimes pushes them towards renting a vehicle for a limited time.

"There is an increased interest in individual tourists who prefer booking on Airbnb. Tourists choosing this type of accommodation have seen a tremendous increase."

All the apartments are full because the prices are low and those visiting Albania are tourists on a low budget.

"Even if we take as a reference the official figures that say we are growing, it is certain that the tourist who is visiting us has changed. It is a less quality tourist, meaning that he pays less and seeks cheap services," says Mr. Kasa.

From infrastructure, lack of water and waste, the negative aspects that devalue tourism

This year has not been easy for tourism and many of the problems that emerged were forgotten in recent years, at least for coastal areas. Areas considered elite, but also those that expect mass tourism, have experienced water shortages.

In more rural areas where adventure tourists have been staying, there have been power outages.

"The year 2025 has had several problems that have made it more difficult for tourism businesses in the Golem region to operate. First, there was the lack of water due to the repairs being carried out in Manskuri;

Secondly, the services leave something to be desired, as being a seasonal business and the lack of workforce has led to replacements being made according to opportunities and not everywhere with qualified staff.

Our evaluation by foreign tour operators is done as a destination, and the bottlenecks that may be encountered from subject to subject can penalize everyone in the chain.

A lot of work has been done on the infrastructure, but there is still a lot to be done,” said Fatos Çerenishti, administrator of FAFA Group, the structure with the largest accommodation capacity in the country.

While our goal is to attract the highest quality tourists, who pay more, it seems that the offer we have does not match this expectation.

This is not just related to services, as hotels cannot be closed oases unaffected by what happens around them, where often the waste dumped in random places, polluted waters, or construction sites are imperceptible to a foreign tourist.

"Despite the work that has been done, we still have major problems with infrastructure, with heavy traffic, with waste and dirt found everywhere, with inert materials and active construction sites, in the middle of the season near accommodation structures.

For a European vacationer, it is unnoticeable that wherever they rest, they see a construction crane passing overhead at the adjacent construction site. The entire coast is full of such active construction in Palasa, Dhërmi, Golem, Qerret.

A foreign tourist who comes to relax on the beach during the summer cannot perceive relaxation in a construction zone.

"These are minuses that we are taking as a destination and have their negative impact on those who may want to come and see our country, but what they read or are told is not positive," says Mr. Kasa.

Contracts with 2026 guarantees without increases, a clause is added as a result of the negative image

Prepaid contracts from foreign agencies for Albanian hotels for next summer have been closed at the same figures as those for 2025.

Tour operators say that this is still positive, as Albania's image as a destination has been somewhat shaken this year and negotiations were not that easy.

The agencies have, however, added a clause to the contract that gives them the right to withdraw without penalty from 20% of the booked contracts if sales do not go as planned.

"This year has been a little more difficult for guaranteed contracts. We have no growth but we have managed to maintain the same numbers in the contracts we signed in 2024 for 2025, with great difficulty."

I say with great difficulty, because Albania has had a deterioration in its rating.

Despite the fact that we have managed to maintain the same booking levels in the agreement, there is a clause that allows agencies to reduce contracts by 20% by the end of the year, due to the damaged image.

"The agencies have agreed to see how sales will be by the end of the year and if they notice that Albania is no longer attracting as much as a destination, they can make revisions," said Mr. Kasa.

He added that Vlora is once again part of the guaranteed contracts, despite the vicissitudes of summer 2025 when the promised transport from Vlora Airport was made from Tirana.

For next summer, the expectation is that flights from this airport will actually begin. Regarding prepaid contracts, it seems that the groups interested in the Albanian coast have increased.

Now, in addition to Poles, Czechs, Spaniards, Israelis, and a number of other groups, the French have also been added to the list.

"We have closed guarantee contracts with foreign agencies and again the Poles and Czechs will be the two important groups that will come with guarantee contracts."

For the first time, next summer, the French will also come with guaranteed contracts.

Their agencies came several times to see the standards offered by the structures in the Durrës and Golem areas, conducted surveys and ultimately decided positively.

These will account for 15% of the total guarantee contracts that we have active”, – stated Mr. Çerenishti./ Monitor