Vulnerabilities

Like other Mediterranean countries, the services sector, especially tourism, will be the most important economic sector in Albania during the next half of this century in the whole coastal area, involving employment, as well as income generation (1).

Coastal tourism is expected to suffer from sea level rise. New beaches can be created (in a natural way), but building a new tourism infrastructure would require huge investments. On the other hand, considering the increase in temperature from 2.8 to 4.1°C during summer time a general inclination of tourism, towards the mountains or the lakes, instead of the beaches is expected. The coastal tourism would be more preferable by the end of spring and beginning of fall (1).

Adaptation strategies

The primary conditions to be met for the development of Albania in general and tourist activities in particular, are:

• The provision of new potable water supply resources and the construction of new water supply, filtration and distribution systems;
• The provision of new power supply resources and the rearrangement of the appropriate distribution system;
• The construction of new sewage systems for both households and industry, as well as new processing units for all the urban waste;
• The rehabilitation of several road segments, and the construction of new roads, compatible with international quality standards, with high embankments so as to handle the rise of the sea level.

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Albania.

1. Republic of Albania, Ministry of Environment (2002)