29 July 2008 | Despite an observed growth in visitors, Albania’s tourism development is still suffering from the lack of infrastructure and advertisement.

In a recent publication, the Albanian newspaper Shekulli reported that over 1.6 million tourists visited Albania in 2007 and their number is expected to grow even more this year. Despite of these statistics quoted as a success by the government, the publication added that tourist agencies are concerned over the bad infrastructure and the lack of advertisement that leave the Albanian market far behind its competitors.

The country is in 90th place out of the 140 countries ranked in the World Economic Forum’s report on tourism and tourism competitiveness, the publication noted.

According to official data, there are 627 hotels in the country, but only 36 of them – mostly located in the capital, Tirana, have been certified according to the rules. In addition, Shekulli wrote that hotel owners assign category stars themselves.

As BalkanTravellers.com wrote in March, as a testament of its failure to compete with its neighbours, Albania was – and still remains, the only country in Europe with a sea coast that doesn’t have a single blue-flagged beach, largely due to the overdevelopment along its coasts and the lack of waste disposal and treatment facilities.