Majorca's hoteliers, concerned by a fall in profitability from Caribbean operations over the past year, are looking at other destinations for expansion. An increasingly attractive one is Albania, where the government has introduced tax incentives for foreign investment to develop the country's tourism.
Last month, there was a series of contacts between hotelier and government representatives. Led by Iberostar, other hotel groups included Viva and MAC. Jet2 were also invited in order to look into flights between Albania and the UK.
Iberostar's president Miguel Fluxá announced at the Berlin ITB fair in March that the group will be investing 300 million euros over the next five years in incorporating six hotels with 3,000 rooms.
Meliá were the first movers among Spanish hotel companies and will have two establishments when the Meliá Tirana opens in 2021.
Smaller hotel chains are understood to be waiting and seeing what happens before investing; they did the same when destinations such as Riviera Maya was becoming popular.
In Croatia, meanwhile, there are plans for tourism promotion. Jet2, as well as Albania, were invited to Croatia last month, an indication that the government wants to establish more direct flights.