In this episode of Focus, we’re at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade show, where Albania is showcasing its tourism sector. With a growing number of visitors, the country is focusing on expanding its tourism infrastructure while balancing sustainability.
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00:00Ever hear of the Albanian Riviera? How about the Albanian Alps?
00:05Once a land cut off from the rest of the world, Albania has thrown its doors open to tourists by the millions and counting.
00:12Hello and welcome to ITV Berlin. It's the biggest travel show in the world.
00:17And the host country this year is Albania. It's a rising star in the tourism business.
00:22Some 10 million visitors in 2023, 15% more last year.
00:27How do they do it? Well, let's go in and find out.
00:30Tourism is a major sector powering Albania's economy.
00:34About a quarter of its GDP, more than 20% of the country's jobs.
00:39Among the reasons why, Albania's Prime Minister, Edi Rama, is here to spearhead the effort with the motto,
00:45Albania All Senses.
00:48I came here because for us it's like for the Bundesmannschaft getting the World Cup.
00:54It's a big reward of our success. And it's also very inspirational.
01:00Look at this. This tells it all, doesn't it? This island here.
01:04We have many like that.
01:06Where is this? Tell us about this island.
01:08This is in the very south. It's in front of Greece.
01:11And for them who never came to Albania, I want to say that in our 28,000 kilometer country,
01:20you find the Mediterranean, you find Northern Europe, you find Switzerland, you find Germany in terms of nature.
01:28You have two seas, rocky and also sandy. You have nine rivers.
01:33You've got the Alps, you've got the Riviera.
01:35We have everything. We have everything.
01:37Roman ruins, Greek ruins.
01:38We have burning sun like in the Middle East. We have fresh air like in Northern Europe. We have everything.
01:46Three-fourths of Albania are mountains. We have two seas, Adriatic and Ionian Sea.
01:53Mirella Kumbaro is Albania's tourism and environment minister.
01:57We have nine rivers. The last wide river in Europe, which is the Osa River, where a lot of people are coming for rafting.
02:04Because the water are turquoise, it's a very special color of this river, which is totally untouched.
02:10480 kilometers of rivers going through the south of Albania.
02:15And there's Gjirokastra, the culture minister's hometown.
02:20Gjirokastra is mostly known as City in Stone because it's a very Middle-Age period of architecture.
02:26And now it's one of the main destinations in the south of Albania, just half hour from Brice.
02:31Ottoman town with a castle.
02:33With a castle, the cities, the artisans, the food, excellent food.
02:38And also with a lot of agritourism and protected areas all around.
02:43But just half hour from that, we have the biggest ancient city of Butrin, another UNESCO site.
02:50You have only very good and bio food everywhere where you are going.
02:54Agritourism, landscape, protected landscape.
02:58So accommodations on farms, right?
03:00Rafting all around this agritourism where you can have all senses of Albania.
03:07Hard to believe Albania was cut off from the rest of the world during the communist regime.
03:11Today, the old bunkers built to defend the country from supposed invaders are historical relics,
03:17contrasting sharply with modern-day Albania.
03:21It was North Korea of Europe. We were isolated from both west and east.
03:25We lived in a regime that built 300,000 bunkers.
03:31I've seen it.
03:32And told us that we had just to survive that evil world.
03:40And average tourists per year, 5,000.
03:44Right.
03:45Average.
03:465,000?
03:47Yes. Now in 2024, we ended the year with 12 million for a country with 2.4 residents.
03:56So how does Albania avoid too much of a good thing?
03:59How to prevent over-tourism as other places in Europe are struggling with?
04:05We are building resorts. We are building hotels. We are building high-ends.
04:09But at the same time, we are increasing the areas that are under protection.
04:13Natural parks.
04:14We have a natural park that I think is unique in the world because it crosses the country.
04:20The Vjosa River Natural Park, the last wild river in Europe,
04:24where people come just for the beauty of the nature.
04:28What's your favorite place in Albania?
04:30If I had to go for a few days, where should I go?
04:32You should land to Tirana for sure, and then you pick a destination,
04:36and everywhere you go, you'll find magic.
04:41A tourism rising star with big plans for the future.
04:44Once an isolated land, Albania is now connected with the rest of Europe and the world.
04:49And the world is coming to them.
04:51Chris Burns, Euronews, RITB, Berlin.