July 20 (SeeNews) - The number of foreign nationals who visited Albania in the first six months of 2017 rose by 9.9% year-on-year to 1.76 million, the statistical office, INSTAT, said on Thursday.
Foreign nationals who visited Albania for the purpose of recreation represented 32% of all international visitors in January-June, or 561,967, INSTAT said.
By comparison, 229,741 foreign nationals visited Albania for recreational purposes in January-June 2016, or 14.4% of the total number of foreign visitors, INSTAT said citing data from the state police directorate.
In June alone, Albania was visited by 437,820 foreign nationals, up 11% year-on-year. Out of the total, 195,048 came to Albania for recreational purposes.
In June, the largest part of international visitors, 31%, came from Kosovo, followed by Macedonia with 12.1% and Montenegro with 6.5%.
Most of the foreign visitors entered Albania by land - 76.9%, 14.7% arrived by air and 8.4% arrived by sea.