Tourism in Kosovo has increased

Tourism in Kosovo has increased

The President of the Kosovo Chamber of Hospitality and Tourism (OHTK), Hysen Sogojeva, announced that the tourism sector in the country has grown, despite global developments and internal challenges, while calling for the rapid formation of institutions to avoid harming businesses.

Sogojeva, in an interview with Ekonomia Online, said that the first quarter data shows a positive trend.

“I mentioned the war in Iran there and then other parts, and especially this part of ours which sometimes has a destabilization, so to speak. However, it is good news that in the first quarter, meaning this year, we still have an increase of somewhere around 9.6% (of tourists) and especially February if we compare it with the previous month. Although 2025 is calculated not only for Kosovo but for the world, it is calculated as the largest number of tourists that we have had, the tourist circulation in the world in 2025. It means it has reached that, that highest level, it means that it has predicted that this prediction was until 2030 to be 1 billion and 600 million. 1 billion and 500, approximately 1 billion and 600 million world circulation has increased already. It means that 2025 is also at the highest level. Even in Kosovo, it means “Despite all these movements, let’s not say negative, we still have growth. It’s good news for Kosovo,” he said.

Sogojeva emphasized that the development of the private sector has contributed to the improvement of the tourism offer.

“Thanks to the private sector, today we have more comfortable accommodation, meaning we have more developed tourist capacities compared to previous years and this enables, in addition to recreations, meaning the tourism that we have, natural, cultural and historical, however, accommodation and this recreational part of the hotel business makes it our business to have as many people interested in this part as possible. On the other hand, Kosovo, you know, is still unexplored, however, of the 800 million inhabitants in Europe, a percentage already comes from our side, because we are still unexplored”, he said.

According to data from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, February marked an increase in activity in the hotel sector. A total of 56,644 visitors were registered, compared to 51,795 in February 2025, which represents an increase of 9.4%.

Of these, 24,416 were domestic visitors, while 32,228 were foreign, reflecting increased interest from abroad. The number of overnight stays reached 112,367, with 60,513 belonging to foreign visitors and 51,854 to domestic ones.

Significant growth was recorded in visitors from Germany with 3,175 tourists (+26.5%) and 6,851 overnight stays (+43.0%), as well as from Switzerland with 2,300 visitors (+7.3%). While Albania remains the main source of tourists with 10,820 visitors, despite a decrease of 10.2%.

On the other hand, Turkey has seen a decline in visitors and overnight stays.

Data shows that in addition to the increase in the number of visitors, foreign tourists are staying longer in Kosovo, positively influencing the development of the tourism and hospitality sector.

Meanwhile, Turkey has recorded a decline, with 2,637 visitors (-21.4%) and 4,177 overnight stays (-5.7%), indicating a slight weakening of the flow from this market.

A significant increase is also observed in the group of other countries, where the number of visitors has reached 13,296 (+15.6%), while overnight stays have increased to 30,117 (+27.9%).