French travellers flock to Albania
Albania has risen to 10th place among the 20 most popular holiday destinations for French travellers this year, according to the “French Holiday Observatory.”
The Albanian Embassy in France shared data from the “French Holiday Observatory” on social media, highlighting particularly strong growth in July 2026, CE Report quotes ATA.
The number of French travellers choosing Albania increased by more than 288% compared with July 2025. “This enthusiasm confirms, year after year, Albania’s growing appeal among the French public,” the embassy said.
According to the latest EdV (Travel Companies)–Orchestra Observatory, the number of travellers fell by 5.6% compared with July 2025. Amid the situation in the Middle East and wildfires in south-western France, consumer caution is at its highest level.
The recovery will not happen. Despite a rebound in last-minute sales, the French travel industry says summer 2026 will be significantly weaker than last year, with most destinations affected, including France.
According to the latest EdV (Travel Companies)–Orchestra Observatory, the number of French travellers fell by 5.6% in July (in terms of bookings, editor’s note) compared with July 2025.
“Short-haul travel is holding up better than other regions, while France is down and long-haul travel remains the most vulnerable,” it said.
“After a month of June already marked by a slowdown in activity, the market is thus confirming a slowdown in demand compared with 2025. The expected rebound in last-minute bookings has not materialised so far.”
Albania stands out with a 288% year-on-year increase in departures
In detail, for departures between July 1 and 28, volumes fell by 7.2% for France, which remains the “top destination” for French holidaymakers, “while Spain continues to grow (+4%) and strengthens its appeal. Greece (-7%), Tunisia (-3%) and Italy (-9%) recorded more moderate declines,” EdV said.
“In short-haul travel, Albania is confirming its very strong momentum, with growth of +288%, while Morocco is also continuing to grow (+6%). By contrast, Turkey (-35%), Portugal (-21%) and Egypt (-23%) are posting marked declines. Long-haul travel remains in decline. The United States (-39%) and Tanzania (-24%) recorded the sharpest falls, while Japan (+28%), Canada (+2%) and the Dominican Republic (+1%) have managed to maintain positive momentum,” Les Entreprises du Voyage said.
August is not expected to be much better.
“Bookings remain below their 2025 levels, with the number of travellers down by around 9%. France is now showing a significant shortfall, of around 12% in terms of travellers, whereas it had often cushioned the trends seen in previous months. This slowdown is mainly due to fewer last-minute bookings in July,” the report said, largely because of wildfires in the south-west of the country.
“For France, we hope travellers will return as soon as the situation allows, in order to support the affected areas and the professionals working there,” said Valérie Boned, president of EdV.
According to projections, only Spain (+3.5%), Morocco (+3%), Albania (+258%), Montenegro (+37%) and Canada (+3%) currently show an increase in bookings.
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