Rama at the Tourism summit: the world is our next target — we have left our neighbors behind for five years

Prime Minister Edi Rama took part on Tuesday in the Euronews 2026 Tourism Summit in Brussels. During his speech, Rama said the number of tourists in the country is growing every year. He also noted that Rinas airport has left the region’s other airports behind, mentioning Belgrade’s.

He also spoke about plans to open a seasonal airport in the south, adding that work is underway to put the Kukës airport into operation. On investments in the country, Rama said this is an attempt to bring to Albania tourists who spend even more — not only middle-income tourists.

“Our objective is the world, as we are discovering that all parts of the world are taking part in this growth. When we started this transformative journey, we counted 2 million tourists, and that figure even included the officials doing the counting, as every Albanian entering and leaving the country was part of that figure. My predecessor was a tourist when he returned to Albania. Last year, 12 million foreigners. Among them, Japanese, Americans, Latin Americans, Chinese, Israelis, visitors from the Middle East,” Rama said.

“We do not have the best infrastructure in the world. We have an airport with the fastest growth in Europe. We have left our neighbors behind for the fifth or sixth year. We have left Belgrade airport behind. Now we will open a new airport in Vlorë, we are working on another seasonal airport in the south. There is a fourth one in the mountainous area but it is not working as we would like,” he added.