The Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, presented the draft budget for 2024 to the Committee on Productive Activities, Trade and Environment, which comes with a total increase of 35%, as a result of the increase in the fund for the promotion of tourism and the integration of the new waste management program.
Ms. Kumbaro presented the budget in detail, maintaining the foreseen limits, in five budget programs, which are summarized in Planning, Management, Administration, Environmental Protection, Forest Administration, Tourism Development and Waste Management.
As for tourism, the total budget increase of 300 million lek comes to support Albania's participation in prestigious fairs such as FITUR Madrid and ITB Berlin, the organization in Tirana of the 70th meeting of the World Tourism Organization's Commission for Europe, the organization in Albania of the convention of the French Confederation of Travel Enterprises "Les Entreprises du Voyage", as well as the National Calendar of Tourism Events, launched under the TEA application.
"In just a few months, TEA, the application that carries within itself the Calendar of Tourist Events in each municipality, has been installed 25 thousand times by visitors and vacationers, a sign that gives us more energy to improve it during 2024, turning it into a long-term instrument for promoting tourist events," said Minister Kumbaro, among other things.
She underlined that through the "Clean Beaches" operation, the municipalities of Lezha and Shkodra will also be supported in 2024, in addition to Durrës, Kavaja, Rrogozhina, Vlora, Himara and Saranda, thus complementing the entire coastline with increased cleaning forces through the National Coastal Agency.
The Minister of Tourism and Environment also dedicated special attention to the Vjosa River National Park, appreciating that "It is a courageous act that made Albania representative of a beautiful and sustainable model. Now, again in collaboration with international experts, work is being done on: the Integrated Park Management Plan, as well as the project for the new Visitor Center in the Vjosa National Park", emphasized Kumbaro.
The approved budget under the investment heading also paves the way for investment in the rehabilitation of the "Establishment of Tourist Infrastructure, with an emphasis on the water-based Eco-Park Ulza, which has begun the procurement process this year to turn this area into an attractive space for tourism development with an investment value for 2024 of 200,6 million lek.
Finally, Minister Kumbaro also mentioned the dedicated budget of 172 million lek for the "Year of Forests" initiative during 2024, where she underlined that "A very important initiative that the Ministry of Tourism and Environment and the National Forestry Agency are working on, the declaration of 2024 as the "Year of Forests" for which we have foreseen an investment of 172 million lek."
According to Minister Kumbaro, 2024 will be a year of implementing the goal of reforestation and raising awareness at the national level about the importance of forests.
Minister Mirela Kumbaro stated during her speech that work is underway on the new tourism strategy 2024-2030.
