Analysing toruism consultancy market in Albania. Problems and conditions

Tourism in Albania is now facing a lot of challenges regarding the improvement of service quality, in terms of primary offer and secondary one. In this paper the main focus is consultancy in the tourism sector, its importance in tourism development and the situation in Albania regarding its usage and adoption. This paper refers to the market of service providers in tourism sector, its actual development in Albania with refer to the size, actors and factors that affect its development, its importance in the development of tourism sector in Albania, etc. In this study are included the most important market actors which operate in the tourism sector in Albania and also sustain this activity. They are divided in two major groups: clients of the capacity building (CB) services offered and service providers (SP) of these services. Methodology used in this paper is best described as a comprehensive market survey included Interviews with both parties, clients and service provider according to the supposed market size. There have been 152 interviews in total, from which 77 on the client party and 75 on the provider party. These number include also 24 interviews from local government, which in turn, is compound by local government leaders and managers as as semi-professionals who operate through tourism offices. Geographical coverage of the study includes the most resourced areas for developing different types of tourism, as well as most developed areas regarding the tourism sector: Vlora, Durres, Tirana, Saranda, Berat, Gjirokaster, Pogradec and Korca. Key findings of this paper show that this market inside the tourism industry is relatively new and in developing phase. As such , it is facing challenges and problems especially related to planning and quality. Areas where strategies must be focused must relate with the elationship between organizations and policymakers