Albanian challenges for sustainable development: Nature-based tourism sector evidence from entrepreneurs' point of view

Abstract

Sustainable development and the related challenges are the focus of the 2030 Agenda within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Albania is also a country that is part of these ambitious programmes and has continuously received funds from international organisations to achieve these objectives. Considerable progress has been made, and there is still much work to be done. An important sector that has experienced immediate and incredibly significant development in the economy of the country in recent years is tourism in general and natural tourism in particular. The flourishing of natural tourism has been noticed all over the country, and as a developing sector, we have tried to identify the challenges faced by new entrepreneurs and draw some conclusions and recommendations in this article. The study was performed in the Elbasan region from February to June 2023. Through direct interviews, it was noted that their challenges are related to the macroenvironment, the microenvironment, and the internal environment.