Greetings from Albania

The winners of the Second Edition of the Post Card Campaign “Greetings from Albania” were announced Tuesday in a ceremony held at the National Gallery of Arts.

Albanian Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports Bujar Leskaj, Director of USAID Mission in Tirana, Harry Birnholz, and businessmen from the Tourism Industry crowned the six winners of this competition.

The post card campaign “Greetings from Albania” was designed to encourage the youth of Albania to create “virtual postcards” depicting places and activities of interest in their home communities and to get them involved in presenting Albania to the world. They promoted their own country as a tourism destination.

Over 300 young people, from 10 communities across the country submitted over 300 postcards. Their creations were in drawing, painting and photography.

The winners were Bora Skenderi, 10, from Tirana, Myzafer Berberi, 15, from Berat, Ditmir Thikaxhija, 11, from Shkodra, Iliaz Kasi, 9, from Gjirokastra, Gloria Boba, 14, from Pogradec and Janaq Qarri, 17, from Vlora. They were given video and digital cameras.

“I think this is a terrific way for the people to see a different picture of Albania, to see it through the eyes of the young people. They have a much healthier understanding and feeling about their country,” USAID Director, Birnholz said in the ceremony.

According to him, “this kind of event transmits that kind of enthusiasm and energy that people want to see. It is not only about bad things about Albania. This is about opportunity and color and the wonderful things about this country.”

Birnholz considered this event “as a wonderful way to showcase case Albania to outside world.”

This project has been going on over the last two years. “Greetings from Albania” has been organized by USAID project, EDEM (Albanian Enterprise Development and Export Markets Services) in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, Youth and Sports.

The post cards will be used by the Albanian tourism industry for the promotion of their tourist products or packages in various international activities or fairs.

“We will see the project success before we make any future decision. Right now, we are very encouraging about the results coming out of this program,” Birnholz said concerning the continuity of this project.

This project has been appreciated even by the representatives of Albanian tourism business. Magic Tours, one of the collaborators of EDEM project, has expressed a high opinion of it. Bukuroshe Bleta, director of Magic Tours, who presented some of the works in a recent tourism fair in London, said that the pictures arouse a great interest among the foreigners. “It was a different Albania, that part they had not seen it before,” Bleta said.

The third edition of this competition is expected to be held next September

Source: Scott Wayne

December 29, 2005   Posted in: Albania