The year 2024 started with an increase in the numbers of tourist inflows to Albania. During the month of January, 489,599 foreign tourists visited our country or 30% more than January of last year, referring to the figures made public by the Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro.
According to the data processed by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, at the top of the list are the citizens of Kosovo, with 215 thousand visitors or about 30% more compared to the same period a year ago, followed by Italian visitors who have were 53 thousand or 50.4% more, while the third place are the visitors of Montenegro with 52,662 entries or +32.6% compared to January of the previous year.
Also, among the groups with the highest increase in tourist arrivals compared to a year ago, there are arrivals from Poland with an increase of 411%, Romania with over 120%, Spain with an increase of 104%, England with 10,545 visitors or 62% more than January last year, Sweden with a 73% increase and France with about 3 thousand visitors, or 41.7% more compared to January 2023.
The Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, in her recent public communications, has described the year 2024 as the touchstone and a great challenge and responsibility to successfully cope with increased tourist flows. Some of the measures taken by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment for this year are the support of 8 coastal municipalities with additional cleaning operators, the establishment of a Task Force in cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy to control the management of polluted water and to improve the quality of the waters on the beaches, the mandatory certification of marine tourism operators and the presence of observers at each beach station. Albania is also preparing to participate in ITB Berlin, the largest tourism fair in the world, which takes place at the beginning of March.
