This year was supposed to be Albania’s year. After years of build up, appearing on several, prominent ‘must visit’ lists, and being designated the home of a number of impossibly cool music festivals, 2020 was set to be the best for tourism. Until the pandemic.
Now, as we approach the middle of June, the beaches are empty, hotels and restaurants are still closed, and many places have shut down completely. As we drove down the Albanian Riviera from Vlore to Himare, we past the ghosts of lido’s, gabanna’s, and shoreside cafes. All that was left was the skeletons of palm beach umbrellas and discarded sunbeds.
It’s heartbreaking to see. Years of investment and time had gone into creating a bustling tourist industry. While not without its faults, business owners had done well to create a unique and (so far) unspoiled experience. Yes there were a few too many sunbeds and yes 250 lek for a cappuccino is expensive, but it was worth it. The Riviera offered sun seekers refuge from the rest of the world amongst some of the most raw and incredibly beautiful coastline in the world.
Of course, the scenery, beaches, and azure water is still there but the people are not.
No one knows what the rest of the season will hold. Will people come? Will planes of eager Swedish tourists ever arrive? Will Albanian’s be able to afford to holiday locally? Will they want to? Or will there be another surge of COVID-19 that will see us holed up at home for another three months?
I hope that some tourists will come, I hope that local people holiday locally, and i hope those trying to make a living manage to do so and keep their businesses open.
For those of us that live here, we should make a conscious effort to support small places that are family run. Big names don’t need our money (as much), but the small businesses do. When you shop local, you’re not just paying for a meal, you are buying school books for someone’s child, paying a dental bill, and putting food on the table. You are also ensuring they are another day, week, or month away from having to close.
While money may be tight for all of us right now, the best we can do is to consider where each lek we spend is really going. If you can holiday this year, do so in Albania. Pick the family run apartments over the big, glitzy hotel. Drink your coffee in a small bar not a branded chain and buy your food locally, not from a shop owned by an oligarch.
Let’s help these businesses ensure they are around next year and are able to give tourists a truly wonderful experience, whenever they do return.
Albania is so beautiful, why would you want to go anywhere else anyway?
Follow The Balkanista!
