Albania wants to boost its tourism, offering unilateral visa-free travel for Russians as well as announcing a draft law which stipulates that people who invest USD 200,000 in the country will receive citizenship.

The historic centers of Berat and Gjirokastër may be blacklisted as World Heritage sites in Danger if the Albanian State fails to comply with the list of measures needing implementation before the meeting of UNESCO in June of this year.

The Albania Property Group has just launched a brand new website geared to promote long term rentals in the capital of Tirana. According to the news release, Managing Director of Albania Property Group, Ilir Konomi, says the Tirana properties will be live within a month.

Starting today SpiceRoads Cycle Tours adds incentive for those who would love to Bike the Balkans. Their continuing program to promote touristic destinations in emerging countries reveals Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro with $150 savings on first time departures there via the tours.

How about trying a Eastern European destination, instead of the beaten path of Western Europe – Paris, Vienna, or Berlin? Your call. This side of the world still waits with fresh homemade bread, a shot of schnapps, and a warm heart. Come in, and find out.

“Identity” (Identitet), a song by Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Seiko, just won the 51st Festival of Song ART. The famous Albanian performers have now won the right to represent Albania at the upcoming Eurovision 2013 song contest in Malmo, Sweden.

Albania shows off its intention of developing a series of increasingly ambitious projects such as the quirky Beds & Bunker – a German-Albanian scheming of converting an igloo-shaped bunker into a fancy hostel for backpackers.

Countries in Eastern Europe are awash with odd sights; some can be explained by the region’s turbulent history, some can be explained by the human imagination and some just can’t be satisfactorily explained at all.

Tourism in Albania accounts for some 1.2 billion Euros, a bit more than 11% of the Albanian GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Some 138,000 people are employed in the touristic sector, or about 6% of their workers. This year, the number of tourists is growing substantially over last year’s numbers with 2.7 million for 2011.

Albania is confident of securing greater investment from the Middle East, following the successful visit of a high level delegation from the Al-Imtiaz Investment Group in Kuwait, which travelled to the Balkan country as special guests of Albanian President Dr. Bamir Topi.