The Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Tatjana Matić, said today, after a meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Environment of Albania, Mirela Kumbaro Furdži, that the two countries, together with North Macedonia, will create a joint digital platform for the tourism offer of these countries as part of the Open Balkans initiative.
The ministers of tourism of Serbia and Albania also announced the creation of a joint regional center to solve the problem of labor shortages in the sector.
“This is our first operational meeting after signing the memorandum on cooperation in the field of tourism in Ohrid, where we agreed on concrete steps for further cooperation,” said Matić at a press conference in the Palace of Serbia.
Matić said that she and her colleague from Albania discussed improving cooperation and joint performance in third markets, especially when it comes to the tourist offer for China and other Asian countries.
Matić pointed out that Air Serbia plans to establish direct flights to China at the end of the year and that a joint appearance in those markets would significantly increase the number of arrivals of foreign tourists, reports Tanjug.
Matić and Kumbaro Furži agreed that, especially in the tourism and trade sector, regional integration is key to achieving success.
Furji said that in the first five months of this year, Albania recorded a 55 percent increase in the arrival of tourists from all over the world, and that in the first four months there were 20 tourists from Serbia.
She mentioned that the peak of the season is yet to come and expressed her expectation that the results will be even better.
During the day, the Minister of Albania will participate in the conference “New ideas for new times” in the Palace of Serbia.
The conference “New ideas for a new time” represents a step closer to the goals of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in tourism in the Western Balkans, which was signed at the Open Balkans Summit in Ohrid, Politika reports.
