Serbian, Albanian Line Ministers Consider Joint Presentation of Countries' Tourist Attractions in Third Markets  

BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC

The Serbian and Albanian tourism ministers, Tatjana Matic and Mirela Kumbaro Furxhi respectively, in Belgrade on July 5 discussed ways to boost cooperation and jointly present the two countries’ tourist attractions in third markets.   

Matic said that China and markets in the Far East were considered, recalling that Serbian national carrier Air Serbia was planning to introduce direct flights to China late this year and noting that joint presentation would help increase the number of tourists in the Balkans.  

She further said that the meeting had touched on the problems faced by the region, including the lack of human recourses, and also on a project for digitalizing the tourism industry. “We would like to see Albania and North Macedonia join this project with the aim of creating a joint digital platform within the Open Balkan initiative,” Matic said.  

The Albanian minister said that 2019 had been the best year in terms of tourism, when around 6.4 million tourists, including those from the region, had visited Albania. She recalled that in 2021, Albania had been visited by 5.6 million tourists, with Serbian visitors accounting for a large portion. She also said that the number of Serbian tourists had surged by 110 percent in the period 2019-2021.