Tourism, Durres in agony

But the beach of Durres, the biggest and most massive in the country, which used to be the main destination of Kosovo and Macedonian Albanians seems abandoned this year. The high level of pollution, the lack of order, the abuse with prices, the lack of infrastructure in the hotels has made Durres to be gradually abandoned, and this summer was really desperate for the hotel owners and the residents who live with the rents of the tourists.

Halim and Mehmeti are two senior citizens who seek Kosovo citizens on the road to invite them renting their houses. Now they have also lowered the prices, but the number of visitors has significantly decreased.

Even the few Kosovo tourists who used to choose Durres now have preferred to go to northern beaches, such as Shengjin and Velipoja, or even Ulqin. This has concerned not only those who offer family businesses, but also tourist operators.

Durres destruction, alarm for Southern Albania

Despite the euphoric official statistics, Durres is in agony. The hotels are almost empty and the few visitors prefer to cook their own food, spending always less.

Durres beach is the typical example of the destruction caused by human greed and irresponsible governing. With or without permissions, Durres coastline turned into a modern ghetto, where the hotels that offer only beds and no food occupied with rush the entire area, even near the seawater.

The greed continues to plant apartment buildings even around the hills that had escaped to the concrete massacre. Although most of the apartments remain unsold, construction companies do not back away from destroying this tourist area.

Tirana’s citizens’ trend of buying beach apartments in Durres now seems old-fashioned, and many of them are trying to resell. Without an efficient basic infrastructure for the visitors, and with the spaces that shrink each year, more than a tourist area, Durres beach has turned in a giant dormitory complex, where even the poorest refuse to spend their holidays.

This is the revenge of pollution, and environment destruction through concrete buildings by ignoring nature. This message should be read carefully, especially by southern beaches, where the construction epidemic has not reached yet the level of the curse named Golem.

Berisha: Booming tourism for 2011

411.927 tourists and visitors more than last year have visited Albania from January 1st until August 8th.
This data was given by the Prime Minister Sali Berisha during a government meeting, where he expressed his pleasure on what he considered a tourist boom.
 
“It has never happened in any other country that the tourism grows with such a big pace as in Albania. You may go and ask wherever you might want. I guarantee you that maybe you will find five star hotels, but there’s nothing like the coastline and the mountains of this country”, Berisha declared.

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