Vlora Airport, which was expected to give a further boost to tourism in the south, now appears to be out of the equation - at least for the coming year.

The conflict - which initially arose among the shareholders holding the concession contract and has since shifted to a dispute between the state and the principal shareholder - has led foreign agencies to either reduce the number of contracts (in the best-case scenario) or put negotiations on hold (in the worst-case scenario).

According to Rrahman Kasa, the Head of the Albanian Tourism Union, the delay in the start of operations has impacted contracts for Vlora. "Foreign agencies have cut the number of contracts by about 60 percent because they find it difficult to market it as a destination."

He directly attributes this to the distance and transfer time from Tirana. "Until Vlora Airport becomes operational, the figures will remain modest. The main reason is that the transfer from Tirana takes too long, and tourists do not want to spend hours on the road."

The Chairman of the Tourism and Hospitality Committee, Elvis Kotherja, also said it had agreements in place to bring organized tour groups from Nordic markets via this airport; according to him, those plans have been suspended.

As long as the airport remains non-operational, organized tourism to Vlora and the southern region remains heavily dependent on Tirana and ground transfers. At this stage, both industry representatives view the launch of flights as a crucial condition for expanding contracts with foreign operators.