Lek strengthening is decoupling tourists from Kosovo to Albania

Albanians from Kosovo, who make up about 40% of the tourist offering, are being discouraged to rest in Albania.

The decline of the euro in exchange for Leku has made holidays in Albania even more expensive.

Turku rescue from travel agency “Fibula” in Kosovo explained that the “with Lek's rise to Euros is reflecting the reduction of trips from Kosovo to Albania, as package prices are automatically more expensive than that fact alone.

Also, in addition to the exchange rate, package prices have increased around 15-20%. In total, compared to last year, Albania is the most expensive of 27-32%”, Mr. Turk.

According to him, there will be further decreases of tourists from Kosovo to Albania, as vacationers will be instructed to other markets, such as Turkey, Egypt, Bulgaria, Greece, etc. “Fafa Resort”, one of the largest in the country, confirmed that there are fewer visitors from Kosovo this year. They stay less nights and spend less.

A euro is exchanged for about $112 currently, from 121 in May last year. A tourist, with 100 euros today, earns $11,200, out of $11,100 in the same period a year ago, or 900 less.

Tourists from Kosovo did not rise to 2022

Official figures from the Ministry of Tourism show that between January and December 2022 2.6 million Kosovo Albanians visited Albania.

A year ago, so in 2021 the figure is more or less on the same level, but the first percentage point is a 0.04 percent drop in tourists from Kosovo.

It remains unclear how the assessment of tourists has been made in conditions where the free transition to customs between the two countries was launched during the joint government meetings during the summer.

The negligible fall of 2022 is not seen as a problem at the core, but what is related is the fact that patriotic tourism can suffer a considerable flow with already announced visa liberalisation for Kosovo.

Albania experienced its best historic year in 2022 in tourism, where the number of foreigners breaking into the country's territory was 7.5 million by December, while of these, according to tourism statistics of 7.1 million are currently tourists.

Kosovo continues to bear the main burden, with 34% of the total entry of foreign citizens. During the pandemic period, Kosovo kept Albanian tourism alive, while half of its entry came from it. /Monitor. al