Tour operators, hoteliers, and tourism professionals in Durrës met today with Prime Minister Edi Rama for a discussion focused on the upcoming summer season, the collective effort required to ensure its success, and tourism’s growing role as a transformative force for Albania’s image on the global stage.
With the country now welcoming more than three times the number of foreign visitors compared to a decade ago, tourism has become a key driver of national development. As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the sector, new projects are underway to digitalize tourism data and to develop a clear long-term strategy through 2030.
Also attending the meeting were Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro and Mayor of Durrës Emiriana Sako.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Today, I believe that Albania is in a completely different position compared to where we were and where we started from, in all aspects. But likewise, I am convinced that what has happened and is happening with tourism is something beyond the expectations of many, because we have not simply become a country that is a new destination due to being entirely undiscovered.
Rather, we are a country that still has great potential to grow even more, in terms of all the benefits that come from this growth—employment, the increase in wages in the tourism sector, which have in fact risen significantly.
We have an ongoing volume of projects that truly represent a new generation of tourism, a new generation of architecture, a new generation of understanding quality, and a new generation of financial volume that is prepared to be invested in Albania by both domestic and foreign investors. In fact, I believe that the volume of investments from both the government and municipalities has increased like never before in support of tourism, and it will continue to grow.
Keep in mind that, according to the World Tourism Organization, we are the country with the highest growth rate in Europe. Of course, we are always considering growth in relation to ourselves—yet still, the highest in Europe—and we are among the top five countries in the world for consistent annual growth in this sector.
Likewise, we have repeatedly been ranked by the World Economic Forum—as the Republic of Albania—among the top 10 countries with the greatest improvement in the Travel & Tourism Development Index.
When you think that in this country there was no kind of legislation for tourism, no regulations for the beaches—just a jungle. There was no system of interaction between the government and the private sector. That was the situation, and that was the chaos we inherited.
But what matters today, and what everyone needs to understand, is that what we’ve done is extremely important in relation to where we started—but it’s not enough in terms of where we need to go.
And for that reason, right here on the beach of Durrës, we’ve made another major capital investment for the entire beachfront promenade. Still, that’s not enough, which is why we’ve also made another investment—already funded and now ready for execution—for the expansion of the sandy area by 100 meters.
On the other hand, we have a very ambitious project on the other side—over here, let’s say—that we hope to move forward with a large group of investors. For the first time, we’ll be attempting the creation of a territory within the sea itself. All of these efforts increase the value of this beach, elevate the value of the investments you’ve already made, and raise the value of every other investment that follows.
For this reason, I want to emphasize that we’ve paid close attention to the new projects.
All these hotels that have been built cater to a certain segment—and that’s great, because it forms the foundation—but now we need to develop infrastructure that serves a different segment as well. That’s why we’re working on expanding Tirana’s airport, Rinas, and why we’re also working on other tourist ports, and so on.
Your declarations about fully booked rooms don’t quite reflect the real situation. I reminded Fatos that, back when we spoke some time ago, you were telling me: “Lower the VAT to 8%, and we’ll formalize everything—we’ll declare all our revenues, because 20% is too high.” Well, we didn’t just lower it to 8%—we went down to 6%. That’s the lowest VAT rate in Europe, the lowest in the region.
Now, it’s time to turn the page. The new e-Visitors system and the new registration tools are being rolled out gradually—because the time is right. We couldn’t introduce them earlier, or we’d have overwhelmed the handful of people who were still operating informally. But now the time has come—we need to do it, and we will do it. Just like the agreement we’ve proposed—it’s an open agreement.
On the other hand, as I’ve said to all large businesses—those with an annual turnover above 140,000 euros, who are subject to corporate income tax (since under 140,000, no one pays profit tax—we’re unique in that sense)—we will present a proposal for a fiscal peace. We’ll offer all businesses the opportunity to pay taxes based on a preliminary calculation. That means: every year, a business pays according to the economic growth rate. In other words, last year’s declared income is taken into account, economic growth is calculated for the current year, and the business pays 15% of that figure. But they will also have the option to declare and pay more—up to 5% above that base—meaning businesses can voluntarily declare extra income.
As for Durrës—truth be told—it has received a significant volume of investments in recent years, from a combination of sources: the national budget, the municipality, and the Development Fund. And we will continue.
One thing to keep in mind—when you talk about the Golem bypass, don’t forget about the new road—the highway, the Blue Corridor—that will be built and will practically bypass this entire area, connecting directly from Thumanë to Kashar to Rrogozhinë. That means traffic flow will be diverted to the other side, making this area here mostly, if not entirely, the main destination for those coming directly to this region.
Thank you very much.
