Only one in five tourists who entered Albania last year slept in one of the country's hotels, guesthouses or rented apartments. At least according to official data. Of the approximately 11.7 million foreign visitors, data from the Institute of Statistics shows that fewer than 2.2 million of them stayed for at least one night.
"This really shows the situation and as we have said before, we are a transit country. This may also be due to the increase in the number of accommodation structures that are not included in the integrated tourism system, but we can still say that very few foreigners sleep in Albania," Zak Topuzi, president of the Hotel and Tourism Association, told A2 CNN.
The government's calls, often accompanied by warnings of fines, are being reflected little in the increase in declarations from accommodation structures. Compared to 2023, data from INSTAT show that the number of accommodations expanded by almost 776 thousand or 55 percent.
"Albania has 107 thousand registered accommodations. This includes cottages, hostels and apartments. We have about 30 thousand apartments with about 90 thousand beds outside the system. That's why we have these figures. Maybe we will see effects later as a result of changes to the law on tourism," said Topuzi.
Data from INSTAT show that last year, the majority of tourists who stayed in the country, just over 2 million, were accommodated in hotels. Meanwhile, from daily rental apartments, there were only 116,139 accommodations reported.
"This shows informality. Albania has almost 48 percent of its accommodation capacity in apartments and villas outside the tax system. This harms both the state coffers and competition between entities," said the expert.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment shows that only about 1,850 daily rental apartments are registered with taxes and pay taxes and fees. (A2 Televizion)
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