Tirana: The surprise travel boom for Europeans 2024!

Tirana: The surprise travel boom for Europeans 2024!

In the current analysis of the MasterCard Economics Institute (Mei), there is a remarkable increase in the number of visitors of various European travel destinations. The Boom of Tirana, the capital of Albania, is particularly striking. Between 2019 and 2024, the city recorded an impressive growth of 178.8 % of European flight passengers. Tirana is the biggest winner among European cities when it comes to returning the travel pleasure. According to Vacation Spirates Mainly visitors from Italy flock to Tirana. The city offers a unique mix of culture, UNESCO World Heritals and affordable prices, which makes it particularly attractive to travelers.

The analysis of Mei orders other popular travel destinations, which also show strong growth. Antalya follows in Turkey with an increase of 69.9 % and Alicante in Spain with 26.5 %. Other important trends are Tenerife with +35.9 % and Dubai with 15 %. These figures illustrate the growing interest of European travelers to discover new destinations and intensify existing trips.

popularity among German vacationers

It should be emphasized that Tirana, according to Mei, is also one of the most popular travel destinations in Germans. Among the top travel options for German vacationers are:

• Antalya, Türkiye
• Tirana, Albania
• tunis, Tunisia
• Belgrade, Serbia
• izmir, Türkiye
• Male, Maldives
• Dubai, Vae
• Pristina, Serbia
• Doha, Qatar
• Chania, Crete, Greece

This list shows that German travelers are increasingly looking for a variety of and often inexpensive opportunities to spend their free time.

other trends in travel behavior

In addition to the short trips in Europe, an analysis of 20 minutes Tokyo emerged as the most visited city in the year 2024. Tokyo is also viewed as a top destination with a modest increase of almost 0.3 % for the summer of 2025. In addition to Tokyo, the list of trend travel destinations 2025 also includes Palma de Mallorca and Osaka, which underlines the variety of travel preferences.

Overall, it shows that Tirana, with his rapid increase in passenger numbers, is on the best way to establish itself as a new hotspot for European travelers. The combination of culture, history and an excellent price-performance ratio could lead to even more vacationers find their way to Albania in the future.