June 14 (SeeNews) - Albania's tourism and travel sector contributed directly 127.7 billion leks ($1.07 billion/957.2 million euro) to the country's economy in 2016, equivalent to 8.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP), the World Travel&Tourism Council (WTTC) said.
The direct contribution of the country's tourism is projected to increase by 5.2% in 2017, the WTTC said in its Travel&Tourism Economic Impact 2017 report on Albania.
According to the council's long-term forecast, in 2027 the tourist industry will generate 244 billion leks, equivalent to 10.8% of GDP.
Investments in the tourist sector are projected to rise by 9.2% in 2017 from 28.9 billion leks in 2016. WTTC expects total tourist and travel investments to gradually reach 52.9 billion leks in 2027.
In 2016, the tourist industry directly supported 85,500 jobs, while this year WTTC projects this number to rise by 3.2%. According to the report, jobs supported by tourism will total 120,000 in 2027.
In 2017 Albania is expected to attract 4.26 million foreign tourists, while by 2027 the annual number of international arrivals is foreseen to reach 6.25 million.
WTTC ranks Albania 29th out of 185 countries in terms of the sector's direct contribution to GDP in 2016, as percentage share. For comparison, tourism in other two popular SEE tourist destinations, Montenegro and Croatia, contributed last year 11% and 10.7%, respectively, to the countries' GDP.
Details follow:
|
2016
(% of total) |
2017 (annual growth) |
2027 (% of total) |
GDP: direct contribution |
8.4% |
5.2% |
10.8% |
GDP: total contribution |
26.0% |
5.3% |
33% |
employment: direct contribution |
7.7% |
3.2% |
10.1% |
employment: total contribution |
23.9% |
3.2% |
31.0% |
visitor exports |
56.1% |
5.0% |
62.4% |
investment |
7.0% |
9.2% |
8.6% |
Source: WTTC
Albania's economy is projected to expand by 3.5% in 2017, the World Bank said earlier this month.
(1 euro = 133.413 leks)