The Albanian coast for at least the last three years has been officially launching the summer season in mid-May, a trend driven by organized tourism located mainly in the Golem area and less in Saranda.

But the coronavirus has completely changed the panorama of tourism globally and this has been transmitted inadvertently in Albania, giving the effects. Found in a situation of "isolation" where foreign tourists, both for the sake of restricting air transport and due to insecurity, have canceled their eyes this season have been thrown by local and Kosovo tourists.

For several weeks now, almost all accommodation facilities have been offering "all inclusive" offers for one or two nights, aiming to have reservations at least on weekends and at relatively low prices. Thus, for the group of four-star hotels and that in general the past seasons have been sold almost over 80 percent with warranty contracts, prices range from 32 euros to 56 euros per night and the concept offered is only breakfast or all inclusive.

It seems that in the last week of June, hotels have increased the number of offers and price reductions. These discounts for offers with a term of 3 to 7 nights according to the "all inclusive" concept range from 15 to 40 percent discount compared to the price at which these packages were sold earlier.

Earlier, representatives of some of the largest structures on the coast of Durres such as Fafa Group or Royal G have confirmed to Monitor that prices this year will be downward trend while despite the offers they do not expect to have more than 80 percent occupying rooms until the first week of July.

In Saranda, prices, according to the hoteliers' association, have been agreed to be 20 percent less for all structures. This decision is not binding but it came as a proposal to make the coast of Saranda competitive in the conditions of the blow that the tourism sector has received from the coronavirus.

At the same time, for several weeks, the structures tested the promotion in the Kosovo market with packages, expecting some kind of feed from the largest group of tourists entering Albania by land.

So far, the only foreign tourists who have come to our country by charter are the citizens from Belarus who chose to vacation in Durrës, Vlora and Saranda. In recent years, the dominance of tourists coming with charts has been from Poland, the Czech Republic, the Nordic countries and Germany.

Source: Monitor