Albania
Ambitious New Framework
To Regulate Tourism
Tirana - Tourism, one of the economic priorities
of the administration, will now be regulated
by a new law. The law replaces the older 1993
legislation, and takes into account the market
conditions under which the tourism industry is
coming up. The law targets major issues related
to tourism such as licensing and monitoring tourism
operators to guarantee quality of service. It
provides for production of continuous and reliable
statistics on tourist numbers. And it holds out a
comprehensive vision for tourism development.
The law passed in May is among a series of
measures taken this year, such as development of
the National Cultural Tourism Strategy and the
Tourism Development Strategy 2012 with the aim
of generating at least 15 percent of gross national
income by that year. 'Albania, Europe's last
secret!' is the slogan of the season accompanying
the new policies. The limitation of Albania's exposure
is being built now as its strength.
“
Europe's last secret”
The new law liberalises substantially the granting
of licence to tourist agencies in a move to
increase competition. The law also guarantees
that Albania will soon have healthy auditing and
inspecting capacities. The law seeks to protect
tourists, and the image of Albanian tourism, from
unprofessional practices. "It will also prevent
ugly deformations such as the advent of sexual
tourism or money laundering through this trade,"
former tourism minister Bujar Leskaj, who was a
member of the drafting committee for the new
law, told IPS.
One of the more positive provisions of this
new law is financial assistance through a special
development fund for small, private businesses.
The fund will be administered by the National
Tourism Agency operating under the Ministry of
Tourism. The agency will also coordinate efforts
of the central and local government as well as
non-governmental organisations and local businesses
to promote tourism.
protecting tourists is central to the new law.
Tourists have been given rights to register claims
and complaints in order to receive refunds. This
procedure has been assigned to the Office for
Tourist Assistance. A tourist community protected
by law is now seen as the first serious step
towards improving the business climate of tourism
in Albania. But the increased regulation has
brought some complaints too, and not everyone
has welcomed all the new provisions.
" The government requires us to present a list
of customers 48 hours before they reach the border
checkpoint," Pandeli Sotiri, owner of a tourism
agency in Saranda told IPS. "But we operate
on the basis of attracting tourists just for one day.
These customers usually come from Corfu and
spontaneously decide to spend one day in
Saranda. I don't know how to cope with this new
regulation." But a solid legal framework can be
good news for business if correctly implemented.
It guarantees stability and standards, and sends a
positive signal to customers that in turn helps
business and investment.
Investment of two million euros
New investments in the field are not lacking.
" An investment of two million euros has been
committed to Durres for this tourist season," says
Andrea Xhovara, head of the Chamber of Commerce
of Durres. Durres has traditionally been
the biggest tourist draw, bringing in revenues last
year of 120 million euro from 150,000 tourists. The
law requires government agencies to coordinate
their actions efficiently in order to facilitate tourism.
In a recent decision the Interior Ministry
used this framework to ban heavy load trucks
from roads linking tourist sites, in an attempt to
ease traffic congestion and make the sites more
appealing to visitors.
As the tourist season progresses, many businesses
are looking to more rapid implementation
of the new law. The new law was initiated to comply
with the Stabilisation and Association
Agreement (SAA) signed in June last year to take
Albania on the road to the EU. The country is
now on its way.