Albania is visited by 35 thousand Russians / 110 thousand tourists came from Ukraine. This year they will be missing

Visitors from Russia and Ukraine occupy a small share in Albanian tourism. Last year, about 146,680 citizens came from these two countries out of a total of 5.6 million foreign nationals entering the country.

Of these, over 36,400 were Russian citizens, while the vast majority of over 110,000 citizens were Ukrainians. The lowest is the number of Belarusians who visited the country in 2021, only 2 545 citizens according to statistics.

Even the market operators themselves confirm that precisely because of the low number, their absence due to the war will not affect the performance of the tourism industry.

“The limited geographical space that affects the three countries, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, even if all three markets are missing with the feeds we expect for 2022, these are markets that do not really have a big impact, but may be potential for the future. . As weight, as quantity, as volume is not that there is an extraordinary weight in Albanian tourism. “It’s not an existing existing market.” expresses Kliton Gërxhani, Association of Albanian Tour Operators.

According to the representatives of the Association of Tour Operators, the attention this tourist season is on elite tourists and the existing markets that bring more income to tourism in the country.

“Important markets for beach tourism are those of Eastern, Central Europe that have created a consolidation in the last 5 years, we expect more and more the western market to come, to open in the Balkan markets without hindrance. We have to work with them in a special way “, adds Gërxhani.

Even this year, the largest weight according to operators will be held by Albanian-speaking tourists from Kosovo who make up more than half of foreign visitors as well as tourists from other countries in the Balkan region.

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