In a world where technology and travel are increasingly intertwined, the startup “What in Albania” stands out as an example of innovation in the Albanian tourism sector. This mobile application offers a comprehensive and integrated platform for tourists, helping them explore and experience Albania in an organized and convenient manner.
“What in Albania” provides detailed information about natural and cultural destinations, accommodation options, local activities, food, beverages, and other essential services like public transportation and healthcare. By using technology to offer a personalized and high-quality guide for users, the startup aims to become the leading guide for anyone looking to discover and explore Albania.
Currently in the phase of further development, “What in Albania” aims to enhance user experience by identifying and addressing their daily needs. Relying on a dedicated team and a clear vision to help boost tourism in the country, the startup aims to create a sustainable and fruitful impact on the tourism sector in Albania. To learn more about this startup, we invite you to read the following interview.
How did your startup begin? What stage is it currently in?
Like anyone our age, we are driven by energy to always seek something that challenges us, makes us better, and makes us proud of ourselves. This is how our startup, “What in Albania,” began—a desire to do something for ourselves and our country. By creating WIA, we aimed to address the gaps and difficulties that tourists face during their stay in Albania. We observed that tourism in the country was growing, but the lack of coordinated transportation, human resources, and integrated communication were some of the main obstacles. This inspired us to create an app that eases the stay of tourists by providing integrated information and personalized services. Currently, “What in Albania” is in the further development stage, identifying new user needs every day to make their experience on WIA as easy and comprehensive as possible. We aim to make WIA the primary virtual destination for tourism in Albania.
If you are a team, how have you divided your roles?
WIA started as a family initiative—a small but very dedicated team consisting of me, my brother, and our partners in life. Our great fortune at this point is that the four of us have different skills that, combined, make us the perfect team for this initiative. From IT, project management, graphic design, to finance, the four of us cover every need that WIA has. However, this complex initiative also needs more support, so I cannot fail to mention our two friends who tirelessly work on uploading materials into the system, as well as our marketing team, which ensures that this initiative gains maximum visibility. Such a comprehensive app could not be created alone, so as in any initiative, teamwork is the key to success for WIA.
What do you aim to achieve with this initiative and startup?
Our main goal is to ease the experience of tourists in Albania by offering a comprehensive and integrated platform where they can find all the information they need—from historical and natural sites to restaurants and local activities. We want “What in Albania” to become a reliable and essential guide for every tourist visiting our country, offering quality and personalized service to all users. We are ensuring that technology is used as efficiently as possible in the service of tourism, and we have integrated an intelligent guide into the platform that helps users create their daily program, as well as an audio guide that allows them to listen to information about their chosen destination.
Do you have support in this regard? How are you building the startup?
“What in Albania” is entirely self-funded, so I can confidently say that we are our biggest supporters. However, for this app to gain such momentum as it has now, where the number of downloads has reached over thirty thousand and continues to grow every day, the maximum support of everyone who believed in this initiative has been crucial. The success of “What in Albania” is measured by the number of users, so I am eternally grateful to anyone who has believed in us, downloaded the app, and enjoyed the experience found on WIA. WIA aims to become the best meeting point for tourists and businesses, so we are also focusing significantly on the business experience in WIA. Business support plays a considerable role in WIA’s progress, so we are working every day to earn this support by bringing businesses closer to tourists. Significant support for us has also come from social media influencers who have not hesitated to publicize WIA on their pages, increasing the visibility of this innovation. We are building our startup with an integrated approach, focusing on the quality of services and creating an unforgettable experience for our users, be they tourists or businesses.
Who is the main target user?
“What in Albania” has two main user categories: tourists who want to explore Albania in a more organized and easy way, and businesses that showcase their services on the platform to be closer to the tourist. We consider it the best meeting point between the user of tourist services and the provider, so we work every day with our programmers to make this meeting point more useful every day.
How do you plan to make it sustainable as a business?
We are proud of what we have created and our main goal is for this project to be sustainable over time and useful to anyone who uses it. The entire team is working to make WIA the main synonym for tourism, where “WIA” and “Tourism in Albania” will always be together when someone wants to visit our beautiful country. This initiative will be successful as long as it has the support of tourists who download it and businesses that seek to integrate to showcase tourism-related services. Therefore, all our energy is focused on keeping these two crucial links satisfied in WIA. We are also investing in marketing and promotion to increase awareness and usage of the app because we believe that by offering a quality and valuable product to our users, we will create a sustainable and permanent customer base.
What can a tourist expect to find in WIA?
“What in Albania” is a mobile application that serves as a tourist guide for any local or foreign tourist. On our platform, a tourist can find 360° information on everything they need to know about Albania to make their experience as enjoyable as possible. The platform is accessible for free and paid and contains the following information:
- Natural Destinations
- Cultural Destinations
- Most attractive places in cities (squares, pedestrian areas, neighborhoods, etc.)
- Accommodation (hotels, apartments, or camping)
- Food
- Drinks and entertainment
- Activities
- Local tours
- Rental vehicles
- Wellness (SPA, aesthetics, etc.)
- Health (dental clinics, aesthetics, etc.)
- Public transport information
- Utility services information (hospitals, police stations, fire stations, pharmacies)
- Intelligent guide
- Audio guide
- Discount coupons in various businesses
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