1.2 Outcomes and Challenges of political shifts in terms of tourism

turning the emphasis in the architectural and urban features of the accommodation facilities.

1.2 Outcomes and Challenges of political shifts in terms of tourism

Historically, Albania has been a country in a state of shadow regarding tourism for historical and political reasons. It was just after 1990 that the tourism sector, with the liberalization of the free market; that allowed private initiatives, formally or informally to determine the prior conditions of the upcoming tourism future, with a strong preview in the Adriatic Seaside. Despite being unknown, the first traces on accommodation settlements are found on the ottoman inns (khans). Five centuries conquest of the Ottoman Empire has manifested their influence in the urban display of the Albanian cities. The heterogenic nature of this empire constrained a need for incorporating the concept of the religion and developing a sophisticated commercial network. Along with this network, a series of accommodation structures were evolved, where caravanserai and inns1 are the two dominated typologies. Caravanserai is mostly found in the interconnection of commercial roads, in strategic spots where the merchants could be accommodated after a long trip with their accompanying animals and their market items. While the Inns are a peculiarity of the city-centers, aligned with the city market. These structures are strictly related with the economic development without touristic expectations, even though few of the travelers could be displaced for artistic reasons, health or family issues,which mainly categorizedthese structures as primarilyaccommodation, related strictly with economic and political objectives of the current regimen without further features such as recreational or entertainment.

The concept of the tourist settlement was introduced by the Monarchy of King Zog, especially when his foreign politics became dependent of the Italian Monarchy of the time. The diplomatic communications and the vision of King Zog, supported the initiation of the tourism, where only in 1929 in Albania were counted 27 hotels and 13

1 Inns are also known in the ottoman influenced areas as Khans or Hans

touristic cities, where were included the thermal baths in Elbasan, the region of Dajti, Theth, as well as the cities of Durres, Korca and Kruja (SOT, 2014). The hotels of this period, were evolved as enterprises and constructions influenced by the architectural characteristics of the Italian Architecture of the time, which broughta certain imposture to the urban display. Even though the first genesis for the introduction of these hotels were established in this period, they also were dedicated to the diplomatic purposes without defining the tourism as a frame itself.

After the Second World War, the country was oriented towards the communist system. The government of Enver Hoxha, for 45 years developed a solid isolation which was fragmented in two main sessions: a) the hotels for holidays or health issues, following the models of the European countries, with an orientation toward the socialist approach of offering the citizens paid holidays and the needed therapies and; b) the hotels for government purposes and international visitors, which were directly affected with the foreign policies and their diplomatic travelers and the ‘Image of Albania’ to be transmitted, which was cautiously treated by the Tourist Agency Albturist. Even though in a centralized economy, during these 55 years, the Centralized Designing Institute managed to design a considerable numberof hotels, which offered not just the services needed but also manifested features of modernist architecture developing a new urban or peri-urban configuration, which today consists as one of the main contributors of the architectural language, altogether with other public buildings.

Following the fall of the communist dictatorship, the tourism and especially the construction of hotels, were considered since the beginning a profitable mean to initiate a business. The liberalization of the country, has been followed by an intensive construction rate dedicated for housing and business purposes. The opening of the Albania for the international visitors raised the interest rapidly, due to the curiosity for the last communist state of the Balkans. The construction of the hotels has not followed any specific trend or characteristics, while during this research they have been observed and analyzed in order to produce certain determinative typologies regarding its architectural outcome (chapter 4).