Page 87 - SE Outlook Regions 2024

foreign tourist arrivals in August, a 22.5% y/y increase, according to statistics office Instat. That continued the strong performance of the tourism sector already seen in July. Overall in the first eight months of the year, 6.7mn foreign citizens arrived in Albania for holidays, visits to relatives or other personal reasons, up by 26.6% y/y.
Passenger traffic at Tirana Airport more than doubled in the first half of 2023, helped by the decision of lowcoster Ryanair to start operating flights to and from Albania, data from the Airports Council International (ACI) showed.
Tirana International Airport, the main airport in Albania, recorded a 105.1% y/y increase in passenger traffic in 2023. Albania performed even better in June, at the beginning of the summer tourist season.
Ryanair’s decision followed a hike in the number of tourists visiting Albania, which experienced a dramatic post-pandemic recovery in the tourism sector, as well as a capacity expansion at Tirana International Airport to handle up to 10mn passengers per year.
Albania’s government is in the midst of a major infrastructure investment programme, targeting roads, airports and the start of an overhaul of the country’s dilapidated railway network.
A new airport is due to open in the city of Vlora by March 2025, as announced by Infrastructure Minister Belinda Balluku. Vlora is one of several new airports recently opened or under construction in Albania.
5.2 Real economy - Bosnia & Herzegovina
5.2.1 Retail
Bosnia’s retail sales increased by a real 14.7% y/y in October, after expanding by 15% y/y the month before, as the performance of all sectors except fuel remained positive, according to the latest available statistics office.
Retail trade except trade in motor fuels increased by 18.1% y/y in October, after going up by 17.3% y/y in the previous month. Retail trade in food, beverages and tobacco expanded by 9% y/y, after rising by 10.8% y/y the month before.
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