Albania

There is no doubt that Albania is being discovered as an international tourist destination. Some caveats are required here though. As the article points out, most of the visitors are coming from Kosovo — a 43% increase over 2010. And visitors from Macedonia increased by 42%. These are not high spending visitors though, so proportional increases in tourism receipts are not occurring. If anything, the country’s infrastructure — especially electricity and water supply — are under increasing strain. Nevertheless, investors are coming. After more than a three year hiatus due to uncertain land ownership, Club Med is finally moving forward in Kakome on the coast between Saranda and Durres. And the Omnix Investment Group from Dubai and Qatar seems to be moving forward with a 638 million Euro tourism investment north of Durres. The tourism investment outlook is looking brighter for Albania — land title and infrastructure are key issues to watch!

Macedonia

Macedonian inbound tourism is lagging behind other tourism markets in the region. Although its potential is lower as the country is landlocked, the main factors contributing to this poor performance are political. However, 2008 was a better year than usual, benefiting from economic development in neighbouring countries. Macedonia increased tourism arrivals and receipts thanks to positive political developments. Most people arriving to Macedonia, as well as domestic tourists, are independent travellers. Macedonia would actually benefit from more packaged tourists as they would influence the further development of air transportation, travel retail and other tourist markets. However, further development is also possible in the independent travellers segment. Other travel accommodation types, especially around Ohrid Lake, and car rental services, are especially benefiting from independent tourism.

Montenegro

Travel and tourism has played a central role in Montenegro’s dramatic growth and transformation. It accounts today, directly and indirectly, for over 25% of GDP, and this percentage is expected to continue to increase in the years to come. Thus, this strategy and the manner in which it is implemented is critical for our nation’s economic and social health. Tourism continues to be an engine for growth and tourism catalyzes and generates the right kind of growth – smart growth, sustainable growth, balanced growth – and that the benefits of tourism are not only maximized, but broadly distributed socially and geographically. While Montenegro has consistently shown one of the fastest rates of tourism growth in the world, our challenge – a challenge that this strategy is designed to address – is not just to continue this growth, but rather to assure that it is growth which is sustainable, balanced and which brings both immediate and long term benefits to the people of Montenegro, while protecting and preserving the natural assets that are the engine of tourism growth in the first place. This we must do, and this we are doing.

Slovenia

Tourism in Slovenia, to a large extent, still represents unexploited possibilities in terms of its economic and social development and recognisability in the world. In terms of relative volume of tourist capacity and number of tourism operators in Slovenia, as well as tourism traffic and employment in tourism (in view of Slovenia’s natural attractions), Slovenia still lags behind other comparable countries and regions in Europe. One of the fastest developments in the Slovenian travel and tourism industry was experienced in health and wellness. Years of huge investment transformed a socialist-era infrastructure into a modern and expanded number of resorts which are increasingly attractive to foreigners. While 2009 saw a temporary reversal of the number of foreign tourists, these resorts attracted larger numbers of domestic tourists, who were usually surprised by the dramatic changes, and will continue returning in future years. Combined with foreign visitors, and still investing in expanding their capacity further, they will reap the benefits in future years in the form of increased arrivals and spending.

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