Meliá has been the first Spanish and Balearic hotel chain to disembark in Albania, where in the next two years it will manage two holiday resorts in the Durres and Tirana areas.
07-09-2019 | MHI
Last August, for about ten days, hotel businessmen from the Balearic Islands led by the Iberostar chain maintained contacts with representatives of the Albanian Administration, while taking note of the tourist sites where they could invest in the short and medium term.
Among the Mallorcan chains that have participated in these prospecting trips are Viva Hoteles and MAC Hoteles. Likewise, the top executive of the British tourist group Jet2 was also invited to establish direct air connections from the United Kingdom to Albania .
Meliá and Iberostar
Albania, mired for decades in obscurantism, now seeks to improve the country’s GDP and per capita income with tourism after seeing the development that this industry has generated in Croatia . The Albanian Government, since the end of 2018, has promoted a series of fiscal measures to capture foreign investment and develop a thriving tourism industry in a country unknown to all European issuing markets.
Meliá and Iberostar have been the first chains to announce investment projects . The president of Iberostar, Miguel Fluxá, announced after the last ITB of Berlin his plan to incorporate in Albania 3,000 rooms in six hotels during the next five years. Iberostar plans to invest 300 million euros in this operation.
Meliá, however, has been the first Spanish chain to already have establishments in this country, specifically with Meliá Durres and Meliá Tirana (2021). The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, is providing coverage to international chains to offer them all kinds of facilities and maximum investment security.
The small and medium-sized Mallorcan hotel chains, as happened before the Caribbean, in Bávaro, Puntacana and Riviera Maya, expect to see how these first investments of Mallorcan companies develop and the response of the issuing tourist markets, in the case of German and British.
So far, they have seen the great tourism potential of this country and have been informed of the main sites where there are lots available and tourist accommodation to invest or manage with Albanian groups, in the case of Concord Group. Albania, apart from a practically virgin coastline, has an active tourism offer based on hiking and mountain sports for its privileged orography and natural diversity.
The Meliá Durres will be located in the second most important city in the country in Albania and it’s part of the largest Resort in Balkan Region “San Pietro Resort”. Melia Hotel aims to position itself as a benchmark hotel in this emerging destination known as “the new pearl of the Mediterranean” thanks to its location, beaches and natural diversity. This extraordinary five-star resort on the beach in Gjiri I Lalzit, will offer 400 rooms and extensive complementary facilities. Among others, the Meliá Durres will provide great dining options in eight restaurants, several swimming pools, an exclusive YHI Spa, fitness centre, beach club, convention centre and parking.
