What do the data show on the growth of tourism in Albania?

Tens of millions of foreign tourists have visited Albania in recent years for various reasons. Only during the first eight months of this year, more than 8.5 million foreigners visited Albania.

The trend of increasing foreign visitors had started in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit Albania and the surrounding countries in the spring of 2020.

That year, the number of tourists dropped significantly, due to strict travel restrictions in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19.

But, since then, tourism in Albania has revived again.

According to a report published by the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations (UNWTO), at the end of last month, Albania is the second country in the world that has had the greatest increase in tourism.

Compared to the January-July period of 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic – Albania has welcomed 93 percent more tourists during the same period of 2024.

Only Qatar enjoys greater growth than that.

This increase in tourism has made Albania collect even more profits. The same UNWTO report ranks Albania as the country with the largest increase in tourism receipts in the world.

Compared to 2019, significantly more residents from Southern Europe visited Albania this year - a full 3.1 million more tourists.

Meanwhile, the only regions from which there has been a decrease in the number of tourists are East Asia and the Pacific, as well as Africa.

The largest number of these visits take place during the summer months. Only during the months of June, July and August of this year, more than 5 million foreigners visited Albania.

Even in previous years, the summer months had attracted the most foreigners to Albania.

During these months, the number of transit passengers who pass through Albania only to go to another final destination also increases.

However, the number of these travelers is low compared to those who travel for personal reasons, for vacations and to visit their relatives.

During the first eight months of this year, as in any other period, Albania received the most visitors from neighboring Kosovo, followed by Italy and North Macedonia.

Although still significantly smaller in number than tourists from neighboring countries, in the last year the number of visitors from India, China, France and the Netherlands has also increased, compared to the previous year.