Serbia and Albania sign Memorandum of Cooperation in tourism: Connectivity as an opportunity for development of both countries

As part of the International Wine, Gastronomy, and Tourism Fair "Wine Vision of the Open Balkan," Serbia and Albania signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of tourism today. The signatories, Director of the Serbian Tourism Organization Marija Labovic and General Director of Albania's National Tourism Agency Zana Cela, stated that the two countries would work together to develop and promote their tourism assets and potential in the future.

Marija Labovic emphasized that the Western Balkans region is attractive to foreign tourists and that the connection between Albania and Serbia in tourism will be significant for visitors and the countries themselves.

She explained that many tourist groups from distant destinations wish to visit more than one country during their trips.

"These are the facts we’ve incorporated into this agreement because we want to foster even greater tourist traffic between our two countries and attract more international tourists from distant destinations. By exchanging shared and diverse but effective practices, information, and future joint projects, we’re very pleased to have accomplished this today. At this fair, we’ve demonstrated that we can jointly showcase our tourism strengths," Labovic said.

She noted that Serbia is exhibiting at the fair alongside Albania and North Macedonia, expressing confidence that this model of joint representation could be extended to "other distant destinations from which we receive tourists or aim to attract."

Zana Cela, General Director of Albania’s National Tourism Agency, expressed satisfaction with the signing of the cooperation protocol between the national tourism agencies of Albania and Serbia.

"We’ve agreed to work together to ensure sustainable year-round tourism in mountainous regions and national parks. Under the key aspects of this memorandum, we will jointly develop and work on tourism products for both Albanian and Serbian tourists," Cela stated.

She announced that, thanks to this memorandum, the two national agencies would jointly organize and share information about events promoting tourism, such as seminars, fairs, and exhibitions.

According to Cela, Serbia and Albania will exchange experiences in implementing marketing strategies to develop tourism and promote tourist destinations.

"Another area is marketing and advertising. We will share experiences in implementing marketing strategies, exchange tourism statistics, and work on improving service quality and infrastructure in tourism. Additionally, we’ll share important information with media representatives about tourism," she added.

Cela highlighted that the two countries will also strive to integrate their operations with other industries and work together to connect companies within the tourism sector.

"One aspect is education. We will establish connections between various educational institutions focused on training professionals. Through networking and partnerships, we’ll connect organizations or companies in the tourism industry and collaborate on different projects. Furthermore, we’ll work on EU projects focused on green policies and tourism. I’m thrilled, thank you," Cela concluded.