Source: UN Tourism

The “Tourism Investments and Economic Development in Europe” conference, jointly organized with Ministry of Tourism and Environment of Albania, was held within the framework of the UN Tourism Regional Commission for Europe. High-level delegates included investors from the hospitality, aviation and real estate industries, alongside private sector stakeholders and various heads of various international organizations.

Participants discussed and explored avenues how to revitalize Europe’s tourism sector through strategic investments, with a focus on long-term resilience and growth in line with the wider Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.

“Tourism Doing Business in Albania”

During the conference, UN Tourism launched the latest in its series of “Tourism Doing Business” guidelines, with a new publication focused on Albania. The guidelines provide potential investors with an overview of Albania’s business landscape, its economic resilience and growth potential.

  • In 2023 Albania was ranked 4th globally for the largest percentage increase in international tourist arrivals, recording growth of 56% on 2019.
  • Albania welcomed 7.5 million international arrivals in 2022, and 10.1 million in 2023.
  • The strong robust rebound in tourism contributed to economic growth of nearly 5% growth in 2022. As of 2023, the GDP at current prices reached USD 23 billion compared to USD 12.3 billion in 2012.
  • International tourism in Albania constitutes 46% of total exports and 65% of exports in the services sector.
Albania presents multifaceted investment opportunities within its tourism sector. With its strategic geographic location, developing infrastructure, and a government dedicated to enhancing foreign direct investment, Albania emerges as an attractive destination for investors. These factors have been instrumental in driving Albania's growth and ongoing development. UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili 
The tourism sector in Albania stands as a dynamic and promising landscape, offering a compelling blend of natural beauty, cultural richness, and strategic initiatives shaping its trajectory towards sustainable growth and success. With a surge in greenfield FDI announcements totaling USD 135 million within the tourism cluster, Albania solidifies its position as an attractive investment destination, heralding a promising future ahead. Natalia Bayona, UN Tourism Executive Director

Investments and tourism employment growing

The guidelines offer a comprehensive overview of the investment landscape in Albania. Key takeaways include:

  • Over the past five years, Albania has consistently attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) at levels surpassing the preceding ten-year average OF EUR 1,004 million. In 2022, the country received EUR 1.372 billion, and between January and September 2023, it received around EUR 1.089 billion.
  • As of 2023, Albania registered more than 154 startups in different sectors including financial services, tourism, technology, and innovation.
  • The ‘Startup Law’ supports the creation and development of high-growth potential startups in the technology and innovation sector.

Value and Investments strategy

Between 2018 and 2023, four greenfield projects were announced in the tourism cluster for a total of USD 135 million (according to fDi Intelligence Financial Times). Through that Strategic Investment Law, the country has promoted around 21 strategic investment projects related to tourism between 2016 and 2023. These projects, which have either been completed or initiated implementation, represent a total investment of EUR 3.09 billion, generating around 16,900 new jobs.

About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

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