Below you will find the summary of the Thesis I
wrote in December 2003 during my studies in NHTV Breda University of Applied
Sciences. If you will be interested to receive a copy of the complete Thesis
please do not hesitate to contact me.
Topic: the institutional strengthening of
tourism in Albania.
For more than half
a century countries of Eastern Europe did not
see tourism as an important sector which could positively influence their
economy. Albania Eastern Europe , started only lately
to become aware of importance of tourism even though the tourism potential has
always been present.
In a country where
there is little or almost no tourism development experience, there is a need to
fill this absence through know-how. This becomes necessary when this lack of
experience and knowledge is noticeable even in the tourism governmental
institutions. In a politically unstable country like Albania
Goal
By analyzing the
political and economic situation, tourism development and especially tourism
institutions in Albania Albania
As a result, the
formulated goal of my thesis is stated as follows:
“To gain insights in the state
of tourism in Albania and how this is affected by the political situation in
the country, in order to explore the need for setting a Tourism
Development Center in Albania, and to find out whether a non-governmental
organisation is a suitable format for such a center.”
The objectives of this thesis
§ To give a clear overview of the political situation in Albania
§ To present the state of Albanian economy and its main sectors
§ To analyse tourism potential and tourism development in Albania
§ To find out the position that tourism institutions have in tourism
development
§ To give examples of other tourism institutions from countries with a
relatively similar background as Albania
§ To show the importance of setting up a Tourism Development Center in
Albania
Working method
The research is
based on:
§ Literature survey
§ An analyses of the goals and organizational forms of other,
similar, tourism institutions
§ In depth interviews with some important actors in Albanian tourism
Conclusions
One of the biggest
strengths of the Albanian tourism product is its large diversity of landscapes
and climates within a small area.
From the history
point of view, the difficult historical background has made it difficult for
Albanians to be involved properly in the democratic process of transition. This
has been strongly reflected in the Albanian political class. The unstable
political situation has a big influence in the country’s development of
tourism. In addition, tourism education is not at that level which could
contribute significantly in this development. These two problems are reflected
in the inefficiency and failure of public and private tourism institutions.
This is why a permanent tourism institution (Albanian Tourism Development
Centre) with a proper trained staff and relatively independent from politics
(i.e., an NGO), could be a solution.
Recommendation
§ In order to be sustainable and effective, TDCA must begin its work
by trying to get support and cooperation from all main tourism actors in Albania
§ The budget revenues of the TDCA can be created by:
- Donations and sponsorships by local and foreign organisations
- Payments for provided services
§ TDCA must be flexible in order to adapt to the situation of tourism
development
This institution will be useful as long as the current governmental
tourism institutions will be weak. After the strengthening of these
institutions, this thesis recommends a change of this Centre’s form of
organisation from an NGO into a tourism institute for example like in the case
of Croatia
