According to the Financial Times,
One of Europe’s poorest countries, Albania has struggled for decades to shake off a reputation for corruption and organised crime that drove hundreds of thousands of Albanians to emigrate. But it is now enjoying an economic revival in part due to a tourism boom.
Attracted by its Mediterranean beaches at competitive prices, airline passengers to Albania more than doubled in June compared with the same period a year earlier… Overnight stays also increased, with Eurostat’s latest figures showing 261,00 nights spent by foreign tourists in Albania in the first quarter, up 152 per cent from the same period in 2019.
Tirana is going to feel like a European city. The northern part of the country will seem underdeveloped. Growing up all I ever knew about Albania I’d learned from Cheers, but that at least helped me place it geographically.
It’s a highly seasonal (summer) destination. British Airways serves Tirana just four times a week in winter, but with two peak daily Heathrow departures in the summer. Some of the best service from within Europe is from Austrian, ITA Airways and Air Serbia. The bulk of destinations in and out of Tirana are handled by low cost carriers Ryanair and Wizzair. Wizzair handles more than half of the traffic in and out of the capital, five times as much as flag carrier Air Albania.
Located in Southeastern Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, it borders Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Greece. Once part of the Ottoman Empire, it declared independence in 1912 and was controlled by Nazi Germany in the second World War. After the war it came under Soviet influence.
The country is in negotiations to join the E.U. Three years ago it was blocked by Bulgaria, given linkages between Albania’s entry and North Macedonia’s. Entry negotiations formally began last summer. It is a member of NATO.
It is a poor country, with per capita GDP only about one-third of Croatia’s and one-seventh that of France. However it is both relatively safe and affordable. You’ll see castles and other architecture in addition to beaches, and you’ll eat soured milk casserole and drink coffee. There are more coffee shops per capital in Albania than anywhere else in the world. Albania does seem to be having a moment.
Haha for a second I read this as the “somewhere hot” destination teased by AA…
About 12 years ago had a day trip to Saranda by ferry from Corfu. Having grown up reading about this mysterious place was a real thrill to visit. I even saw the blockhouses that their former paranoid ruler had built all over to ward off imaginary invasion plans. The people were friendly and there were some interesting Roman ruins, but you could see they were really struggling to get things together after decades of isolation, and the city was poor. (And the ruins were flooded as somebody had stolen the pumps.) I was surrounded by small women selling good lace. Not having any experience with capitalism they bid each other down. I suggested forming a cooperative and having a decent uniform price, which was something they had never heard of before, but then the country was unsophisticated enough to have just been taken in by a giant ponzi scheme. I understand that things are doing better now. Here’s hoping tourism and the interests that build resorts and such don’t corrupt the place, they deserve a chance to finally have a decent functioning country.
I wouldn’t go there unless you’ve got Liam Nesson and Jim Belushi on speed dial.
Like Drrichard – last year I did an organised day trip from corfu town to sarande. It was a great day visiting the southern part of this emerging country. Our guide was a school teacher and had lived under suspicion during the communist era.
Visited Gjirokaster Saranda and Korcha in 2009. Crossing into Macedonia felt like entering Switzerland. I plan to return, it is a unique country. Maybe hiking.
I used to run into a lot of Albanian doormen at residential buildings in Manhattan, and it sounded like the Albanian-American population seemed to be heavily concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic states, but the numbers and demographics probably don’t amount to enough to sustain a US airlines’ flight more than perhaps seasonally.
A lot of the cross-border trafficking and other smuggling gang activity in Europe seems to have Albanian connections. So it’s hot in that way too.
Albania is really the only European country that remained Muslim after the ottomans and Arabs were finally kicked out of Europe after centuries of invasion and occupation. That tells us something. It’s no wonder that Albania is ground zero for human traffickers, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking. We have a lot of experience with Albanians in New York. They are second to only Dominicans who rave about their country being so great despite moving away from there. Albanians tend to be hateful to others except other Albanians. A small 10% Christian minority in Albania and those who moved to the U.S. can be really decent people. I am sympathetic to the old ladies selling sweaters and etc but my experiences in school with Albanians leaves a sour feeling. They are better at construction than Italians, though.
“Albania is really the only European country that remained Muslim after the ottomans and Arabs were finally kicked out of Europe after centuries of invasion and occupation.”
No, not really. Boznia and Herzegovina and their 51% muslim population says hello…..
Ground zero for human trafficking, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking in Europe is not Albania — those nexi would happen to be parts of Europe that are (unlike Albania) majority Christian. The Albanian mafias are not really religious Muslim ones.
But why let facts get in the way of a Muslim-bashing narrative based on personal prejudices, à la Jack Hudson’s above.
Albania and Kosovo tend to be highly pro-American parts of Europe. Something Joe Biden also knew personally as his late son Beau experienced it while sent by the US to work in the region years before Obama was even in the White House.
Remembering 40 years ago and boats full of people trying to get to Italy and a better life…
@Dan
Thats Hilarious~
There’s a new Marriott in Tirana that is said to be excellent. The Hilton Garden Inn not so much, though it is 1/3 the price of the Marriott.
Just returned from 2 weeks in Albania July and my wife and I thought is was great. Saranda, Gjirokaster, Berat, Shkoder and Tirana. Friendly people, great food, inexpensive, and they love America/Americans. Stayed at the Marriott in Tirana which is part of the soccer stadium. Very cool. Just have to figure out the public transportation system which will give newcomers fits. Once you figure it out, then no problem. With that said, many people rent cars.
@BBD, did you do day trips from Tirana or did you stay in some of the places you mention? I’m looking for information. Would welcome any you want to share.
We were coming up from Greece and took a ferry from Corfu to Saranda. Took buses to all the places mentioned and stayed anywhere from one to three nights. Albania is a cash country and places rarely accept credit cards (except big hotels). The only clue that it is predominantly Muslim is local women wear dresses below their knees. Tourists wear whatever. We flew out of Tirana on LOT to Warsaw and made a connection back to the US.
Thanks, BBD, especially on the cash comment.
Went to Saranda in june and enjoyed.
Best tip I received, which I repeat here: Credins ATMs do not charge fees.
I second that many places are cash-only, but some restaurants, bars (and all supermarkets that I visited) accepted CCs.
Albania is a great destination, ESPECIALLY for Americans. Albanians love Americans more than any other country in the world. Americans can stay for ONE YEAR without a visa or any paperwork. Want to stay longer? It’s one of the most uncomplicated countries to do that. Want to enjoy the zillion places to drink coffee in Tirana or Durres or Shkoder or the southern coastal towns of Vlore and Sarande? Also no problem. Hotels? Those are cheap. AirBnBs? Those are also cheap. World-historic places? Check.
Honestly it was one of the best-kept secrets until a few years ago when we spent three weeks traversing the country from the north to the south. Highly recommended!
@Jack Hudson, I Hear you: ‘They are second to only Dominicans who rave about their country being so great despite moving away from there’.
But there’s a new sheriff in town, wait til’ you hear the Venezuelans in NY (what we, the non Chavista Venezuelans call ‘the Chavez offspring’).
Isn’t the so called ‘cultural enrichment’ lovely? what the dems are doing with the sovereignty of the once Greatest country on Earth will never be fixed.