Sustainable Tourism Development in Albania through Stakeholders Involvement

Abstract

Tourism is an important subsystem of the Albanian economy, considering a key factor of regional development and economic growth. To ensure the long –term success of the tourism destination on the international tourism market, it has to operate according to the principles of sustainability. The focus of many contemporary studies from the tourism development literature has been on the need of implementing development policies that are based on the principles of sustainable development. The destination can be sustainable and competitive if it attempts to reach a compromise regarding the interests of all the stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement and participatory practice is increasingly becoming a part of mainstream practice and central public policy decision making and delivery related to sustainable tourism. Sustainable development and the application of its principles to Albanian tourism are more important now than ever. It should be examined from the points of view of the key stakeholders: tourists, the local people, the tourism businesses and the professionals involved in the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism development ensures guest satisfaction,steady profit coming from tourism related activities for tourism oriented businesses and growth of tourism in region, rise in standard of living of local people and protection of the environment. Partnership building in Albania is in its infancy and partnership work is essential to get the greatest benefits from the holistic sustainable tourism approach. Hall discussing policy issues regarding tourism states that: often, the problems of developing coordinated approaches towards tourism planning and policy problems, such as the meta problem of sustainability, are identified in organizational terms, e.g the creation of new organizations or the allocation of new responsibilities to existing ones. However, such a response does not by itself solve the problem of bringing various stakeholders and interests together which is an issue of establishing collaborative processes (Hall 1999, 278). The article examines the competitiveness of the Albanian destination from the viewpoints of the tourists, tourism business, local people and tourism experts. Considering each stakeholder`s role and protecting the interest of the target groups contributes in achieving and maintaining of sustainability in the tourism sector in Albania. The study aims identifying their attitudes towards sustainability and their points of connection as well that assist with promoting the interests of the target groups. It is critical to note that the participatory engagement of stakeholders is perhaps the most important component of the planning and development of the Albanian destination. It can be described as a process of maturity from initial stages to more developed and self-sustaining stages. Questionnaires were used for gathering data. They were designed for all four target groups. The questionnaires included both open-ended and closed questions. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n2p313