Water at 11.8% of Albania’s bathing beaches is poor quality, the highest proportion of any of the countries included in a study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the European Commission DG Environment. 

The news is a blow for Tirana’s hopes of promoting Albania, which lies between Montenegro and Greece on the eastern Adriatic coast, as a tourist destination. Despite its geographic location, Albania’s tourist sector is currently undeveloped compared to those of its neighbours. 

The travel and tourism sector’s direct contribution to Albania’s GDP was just 8.5% last year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. While tourist numbers have increased recently, rising by 8.1% y/y in 2017 and 12.5% y/y in Q1 2018, they remain relatively modest at 5.1mn in 2017.

The EEA study found that just 54.9% of Albanian bathing waters were excellent — among the lowest share of the countries surveyed though better than Bulgaria and Romania. A further 2.1% were rated good quality and 2.6% sufficient quality. 

Across the countries surveyed — the EU member states plus Albania and Switzerland — the results were slightly worse than last year, but 85% of swimming sites were still deemed to be excellent. The EEA looked at a total of 21,801 bathing water sites across the continent. 

The report attributed the drop in both the number of excellent sites and those that met the minimum sufficient standard “mostly to the effect of summer rain on test results as well as changes in testing methodology in Romania and Sweden”.

"The quality of our bathing water is a source of pride for Europeans. That quality is due to good cooperation and constant vigilance. We all play a part: industry, local authorities and services together with citizens,” commented Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. 

The report also stressed that Europe's bathing water quality has vastly improved over the last 40 years, when the EU's Bathing Water Directive was introduced. Nonetheless, aside from Albania, several other states were singled out for their poor quality bathing water; 7.4% of bathing sites in Estonia were rated poor, and 4.9% of those in Ireland. Swimming at bathing sites where water quality is poor can result in illness, the report warns. 

The study is based on water samples collected by local authorities which are then analysed for two types of bacteria that indicate pollution from sewage or livestock.

Poor bathing sites have to be closed during the following bathing season and steps must be taken to reduce pollution and eliminate health hazards. A failure to address problems has long term consequences; bathing must be permanently prohibited or permanent advice against bathing must be put in place at bathing water sites that have been classified as poor for five consecutive years.