In addition to the export of goods, the strengthening of EUR is discouraging the export of services, such as tourism and call centers.

Albanians from Kosovo, who make up about 40% of the tourist offer, are being discouraged from vacationing in Albania.

Fall of the Euro in exchange with the Lek has made vacations in Albania even more expensive.

Shpëtim Turku, from the "Fibula" travel agency in Kosovo, explained that "with the increase of the Lek against the Euro, it is reflecting the reduction of trips from Kosovo to Albania, since package prices are automatically 12% more expensive just because of this fact.

Also, in addition to the exchange rate, package prices have increased by about 15-20%. In total, compared to last year, Albania is more expensive by 27-32%", explained Mr. Turkish.

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

One euro is exchanged for around 112 lek currently, from 121 in May last year. A tourist, with 100 euros today, gets 11,200 ALL, from 12,100 ALL in the same period a year ago, or 900 ALL less.

Official figures from the Ministry of Tourism show that from January to December 2022 Albania was visited by 2.6 million Kosovar Albanians.

A year ago, so in 2021, the figure is more or less at the same level, but first in percentage, we have a decrease of 0.04 percent of tourists from Kosovo.

It remains unclear how the assessment of tourists was made in the conditions when free customs clearance between the two countries started during the summer as part of the commitments made during the joint meetings of the governments.

The negligible drop in 2022 is not seen as a problem in essence, but what is worrying going forward is the fact that patriotic tourism could suffer a significant drain with the already announced visa liberalization for Kosovo.

Albania experienced in 2022 the best historical year in tourism where the number of foreigners who set foot on the country's territory was 7.5 million until December, while according to tourism statistics, 7.1 million of these are literally tourists.

Kosovo continues to hold the main weight, with 34% of the total arrivals of foreign citizens. During the pandemic period, Kosovo kept Albanian tourism alive, as half of the arrivals came from it.

(Source: Monitor)