It is all about Albania for many Italians this summer, including the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The PM left a farmhouse flanked by olive trees in Puglia and boarded a tourist-crammed ferry this week to Vlora, an Albanian city whose beaches rival those of the southern Italian region on the opposite side of the Adriatic.
The catalyst for her fleeting, last-minute trip was the revelation that thousands of Italians have shunned the bel paese and its pricey beach loungers for the Balkan country this year, a trend that has displeased some Italian government officials.
The Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, fuelled the debate after bragging on social media about the “invasion” of “almost half a million” Italian tourists. He illustrated the point by comparing a photo of a packed ferry arriving in his country with one of the Vlora, the cargo ship carrying an estimated 20,000 Albanian refugees who fled in the opposite direction on 8 August 1991.
To calm the waters, Rama extended an invitation to Meloni, who spent a few hours with her daughter and partner at his seaside home.
“She came [off the ferry] with a big bunch of Italians who seemed very proud of their special travel companion and were shouting it as she disembarked,” Rama told the Guardian. “What’s great about Giorgia is that she is authentic and very direct – what you see is what you get. Her first words after I accompanied her to the place she stayed were: ‘My, how beautiful this city is!’”
Italians and other European tourists are flocking in their droves to Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, whose image has long been tainted by corruption and organised crime. Yes, they are attracted by the beaches and mountains. But they are mostly spellbound, as Rama concedes, by the country’s cheap costs.
Italian holidaymakers, especially those in Puglia, have become increasingly irked this summer by the sometimes exorbitant costs, including for hiring loungers.
The average cost of renting two loungers and an umbrella for the day comes to between €35 (£30) and €50 a day in Puglia – substantially higher than in Albania, where it sets beachgoers back more like €10.
Likewise, tourists have racked up big bills in Puglia after ordering the beachside staple, spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams). Some resorts have been judiciously monitoring visitors’ bags to ensure they don’t sneak their own food in.
“The lower prices here no doubt cast their spell, but I think it is more than just the prices,” said Rama. “Albania has finally got rid of the horrible stigma of the 90s that persecuted us for so many years. Albania is now the new tourist destination to be discovered in the Mediterranean.”
Among those venturing to Albania for the first time was Alessandro, a 32-year-old who lives in Bologna but grew up in Salento, an area of Puglia at the heel of Italy’s boot known for its unspoiled beaches. He and his girlfriend started their trip this weekend with a visit to the Shala River in the north before heading to the coast.
“We always like to visit different places and I really like eastern Europe, so the country itself is the first motive,” he said. “The second is the price. Many of my colleagues are also going to Albania because it’s cheaper than Puglia, or Sicily, Sardinia and Tuscany. They are all beautiful but all cost a lot more this year.”
While the number of foreign tourists in Italy has increased this year compared with 2022, domestic travel is down by up to 30%, according to figures this month from the tourism association, Federturismo. Some Italians have renounced a holiday altogether due to the high cost of living, while others have opted for cheaper destinations even if it means paying for flights or ferries. Demoskopia, the research institute, said the cost of a holiday in Italy had risen by an average of 9% compared with 2022.
Even as Albanians continue to leave their country, driven primarily by poverty and corruption, the country was attracting Spanish, British, American “and even Australian” visitors, said Rama.
Rama has focused heavily on tourism in recent years. New hotels have sprung up and an airport is due to open in Vlora next year. Albania is also becoming increasingly popular among young travellers for its party scene, with the Italian press comparing it to Rimini in the 1960s.
“This is the first year Tirana has been crowded all year round, with a lot of youngsters coming to enjoy the nightlife,” said Frenkli Prengaj, manager of the Discover Albania travel agency in the Albanian capital. “It’s full of Italians, Spanish and English. Albania today provides a better tourism service than it did, say, five or 10 years ago – and the key word is ‘cheap’.”
Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s agriculture minister and Meloni’s brother-in-law who holidayed with her in Puglia, took issue with Albania’s attempt to compete with Italy.
“We must explain that quality pays off,” he told reporters. “Therefore, when someone pays more, it means they get more. Puglia is an excellence … evidently, there are countries on the Adriatic coast which aspire to have the same propensity to welcome tourists in the same way Puglia has. But what you find in Puglia cannot be found there.”
Meanwhile, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, appeared to make a point of travelling from his usual northern holiday choice to Polignano a Mare, an iconic beach spot in Puglia, to share a selfie with his girlfriend in which he declared: “Che meraviglia!” (how wonderful).
But Italians aren’t just holidaying in Albania, many are living there, attracted by the lower cost of living and taxes.
“There are so many Italians here now that we joke that Albania is Italy’s 21st region,” said Amos Ballico, a tour operator for Discover Albania who is originally from Veneto. “It used to be mainly pensioners, but now everyone is coming.”
He said that while northern Italians could still be “a little bit snobby” about Albania, the country attracted many from the south, mainly due to the proximity and historical relations between the two.
Some people found Rama’s post comparing Italian tourists with the Albanians who fled to Italy in the 90s offensive.
“People who can’t smile and take themselves very seriously miss a great part of the miraculous gift of life,” he said. “But despite this noisy minority, the post was just a smile in an exciting moment in our journey towards a brighter future. Thirty years ago we were escaping hell and showed up on Italian shores looking like aliens from another planet. Nowadays Italians are showing up on our shores … invading Albania softly and sweetly.”
