Responsible tourism in Albania

An issue which comes up again and again is that of litter. It fills Albania – local people use the sea, rivers and streets as rubbish dumps. Numerous things will have to be resolved in order to deal with this issue; adequate waste disposal and recycling facilities need to be established by the government, of course – but there also needs to be more education in communities and particularly in schools to stop people discarding waste inappropriately in the first place. This is hard to do when the local municipalities themselves dump trash freely; there are some 200,000 residents in Durres, and their rubbish is dumped in surrounding fields. The litter problem is harmful to the environment, or course – especially in the rivers, and on the beaches that the rivers flow though, which quickly become clogged. But it can also pose a threat to people.

One of the issues is that Albania was not only poor but communist – and very cut off from the outside world. It has very quickly become capitalist – with all the benefits and threats that brings, including much more consumerism, packaging – and waste. Unlike in many countries where disposal and recycling systems developed at the same speed as the consumer culture, Albania has not yet had time to catch up – culturally, or institutionally, and there are just two approved rubbish dumps in the country.

Despite being off limits for so many decades, and still off most tourist radars, Albania is just 2.5km from Corfu at its closest point, making it incredibly accessible. Passenger ferries pour into Saranda’s port daily in peak months (it’s just half an hour from Corfu by hydrofoil), while Mediterranean cruise ships have also begun adding Saranda to their itineraries – aware of the pull off the “forbidden” for their passengers, even if they barely step beyond the port. But these visitors all have one thing in common: they all come for the day. In terms of responsible tourism, this is far from ideal. The tourist cash is concentrated into just a tiny section of the country, in just a couple of months of the year and sudden influxes of hundreds of visitors are simply not sustainable. Add to that the environmental damage created by large cruise ships, and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Unfortunately, independent travellers have few options. Driving in Albania is notoriously scary, and bus timetables are nonexistent in the rest of the country. Saranda is the only region with a functioning publics transport system, meaning it is easy to come in for the day, take buses to the archaeological ruins at Butrint, spend a few hours at the Blue Eye National Park or on a Riviera beach, and head back out.

What you can do
Staying for a night or two is clearly more beneficial to local businesses than simply cruising in and out, but to really make a difference to Albania – as well as being able to discover authentic culture – travellers need to think beyond Saranda. Over half of Albania’s population lives in rural areas, and despite the country’s small size, its geography means that many communities are very isolated. While development is sweeping the cities and coast, for many villagers life has changed little in decades, with subsistence farming and pastoralism still the backbone of rural Albanian livelihoods.

While travelling Albania independently is incredibly hard for now, organised tours take you well away from the tourist hubs and into deeply rural areas – without you having to negotiate any of Albania’s crazy logistics. They are also available all year round, which is far more beneficial to local business owners, guides and craftspeople.