But everyone who’s actually gone to Albania can’t say enough good things about its people. “Unfortunately, most people don’t know much about Albania and when they do it is usually just negative stereotypes,” Lopez says. “This plays to our advantage, though, as those adventurous enough to defy those stereotypes and come all the way to Albania are greatly surprised when they find that all those preconceptions couldn’t be further from reality. They won’t hesitate to invite you to their house to drink raki, even if they can’t speak English.”
Becky and Elena experienced this first hand. “Everyone was so nice because they weren’t used to tourists and they were so accommodating,” Becky says. A winery offered them free food, a local invited them in for raki, another gave them a free boat trip and a taxi driver even stopped off to buy baklava for them.
Antonia and Georgie agree. “We went with a lot of preconceptions because our family and friends were a bit unsure, but it was really fun. The people were really kind and couldn’t do enough for you,” Antonia says. One bartender ran around to find vodka for them, while a newsagent owner gave them an ice bucket because he felt the beers he sold them weren’t cold enough.
For Krasniqi, the holidaymakers of Summer 2023 will make-or-break Albania’s tourism industry. “This year will define how people treat it and respect it,” she says, concerned that it could become another Ibiza, but hopeful of the positive impact visitors could have. As with any emerging hotspot, there is a risk that it gets burnt by tourism, a sandtimer counting down towards cultural erosion. Equally, though, if the new income from tourism trickles into the local economy, it could lead to a positive outcome for all.
Either way, it’s pretty clear that Albmania will continue to spread across the UK, as extra infrastructure and a new wave of events sweeten the already tempting deal. Soon, it will reach the next chapter of the phrasebook – no longer referred to as The New Croatia, the Maldives of Europe, the Caribbean of Europe, the Next Greece, but simply Albania.
Source link : https://theface.com/society/how-albania-became-2023-summer-hotspot-tourism-dua-lipa-tories-xenophobia
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Publish date : 2023-07-07 07:00:00
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