Albania, Macedonia signed agreement on tourism

Albanian and Macedonian National Tourism Agency has signed a cooperation agreement as the first step towards a close cooperation between the two countries in the domain of tourism ahead of the start of the holiday season, local media reported Sunday. This agreement inked in Skopje, capital of Macedonia, contributes to the promotion of the two Balkan neighboring countries as a joint tourist package in various fairs or activities in the world. Macedonia exported 500 million euros (687 million U.S. dollars) for tourism in neighboring countries last year. This means that the citizens of this country have spent half a billion euros to spend their holidays in the neighboring countries. One fifth of this amount is estimated to have ended up in Albania. Tourist operators in Macedonia forecast that, in 2014, more than 200 million Euros are expected to be spent in Albania. Travelers from Macedonia have frequently visited Albanian coastal areas for their summer holidays, because around 30 percent of the population of Macedonia are ethnic Albanian and their first holiday choice is Albania. Besides, the cost in Albania is lower and beaches are not overpopulated with tourists.