After reading the article from @akipponn about Public Room co-working in Skopje I decided to list my thoughts and impressions about Tiranas startup ecosystem in general and raise the question whether Tirana is suited as a location for foreign founders and Digital Nomads.
When you think of Digital Nomad Hubs you probably come up with exotic and far away places like Ubud on Bali and Chiang Mai in Thailand or in case related to Europe with cities such as Lisbon, Sofia or Berlin. Tirana though might not come up (yet). I am emphasising on yet, because I believe Tirana has almost all the requirements needed to become a popular Digital Nomads destination. In the following I made a list existing and still missing factors in comparison to above mentioned well known places.
POSITIVE
Hospitality
Tiranas citizen know how to treat visitors. There is no artificial friendliness or awkwardness in their behaviour. Its an authentic hospitality that makes visitors feel comfortably and also act naturally in return.
Creativity boosting Chaos
Tiranas environment is very vivid and positive. The inner city is partially in an advanced stage of decay, the house paintings, graffiti and overall atmosphere however make this state however seem unique and of style. The traffic on the streets, streets vendor and musicians create a very vibrant and energising atmosphere. I especially liked the elderly people who tried to earn some Lek by making music, providing a weight scale or selling herbs or chicken eggs. Sometimes you can even see living chickens on sale.
Cafes and free places to work
Somewhere I read or heard that Tirana has the highest density of Cafés in Europe. When seeing one Café or Bar next to each in almost any street within the inner city circle I truly believe this information is true. There is a great mix of mainly small and independent Cafés and also chain Cafés primarily Mulliri I Vjeter or Sophie. Most Cafés have space to work and almost all offer free WIFI. DESTIL is a hostel however offers a great Café and Bar space which plenty of space to work.
First picture shows the space of Mulliri I Vjeter (1st floor) in Rruga Pjeter Budi. Second Picture shows the entrance to DESTIL Hostel & Cafe
**
Wifi and personal prepaid SIM Card availability**
WIFI is almost everywhere accessible without a long signup process. Airport, Malls, most Cafés, Hotels of course. Sim Cards are available in the shops of the Telekom Providers (TELEKOM, Vodafone, AlbTelekom) with costs of less than 500LEK for 1GB of Data.
Affordability of daily living
The cost of daily expenses is one of the central factors for a cities suitability for Digital Nomads. Local products are very affordable when bought at the market or local shops.
A** short list of products or services** with related prices shall illustrate the price level.
1Euro is 130 LEK,
Loaf of white bread: 60 LEK
Potatoes 1kg: 50 LEK
Apples 1kg: 100 LEK
Chicken Meat 1kg: 400 LEK
1 domestic beer: 80 LEK
Haircut (men): 300 LEK
Cafés and Restaurants:
Cafe (Espresso): 50-80 LEK
Tea: 100 LEK
Ice Café: 200 LEK
Muffin: 100 LEK
Cake: 100-200 LEK
Suflaki: 150-200 LEK
Business Lunch: 500-800 LEK in Blloku Area
Lunch in Restaurant for locals: 250 LEL (Soup; Rice with Chicken or )
Dinner in middle class restaurant: 1500-2000 LEK
Bus: 30-40 LEK one way
Taxi: (Daytime) 250 Lek first 1.5km, around 100 LEK additional km/ 25 LEK/min
The cost for hotels and airbnb apartments however are more adapted to Western European Standards with 4 Star Hotels in the 80€s and 5 Star Hotels above 100€. Airbnb condos cost around 25€ per night.
Food and beverage menu of regular local restaurant (outside of Blloku area). Prices in Albanian Lek.
Proximity to Nature, Beach and Ocean
Nestled between the Albanian Alps and the Adriatic Ocean Tirana is a suited starting points for either water sports or Alpine sports activities. The city itself is on the edge of Dajti Mountain. Also the Grand Park of Tirana is a convenient place to enjoy nature – just 10min on foot from Blloku Area.
First picture shows the artificial lake of Grand Park. Second picture shows the view from Mt. Dajti onto Tirana.
English Language
Most of the young generation speak English very well, because of the high influence of the US in the Albania. Hollywood Movies TV are mostly only subtitled in Albanien language.
Immigration rules
Albania provides 90 day entry without a visa is available for citizens of many countries. Please check the immigration rules for your nationality.
Spending money on a visa or doing visa runs after 30 days is not necessary.
Weather
Tirana ranks among the Top10 of Europes sunniest cities with a total of more than 2500 hours of sunshine, 270-300 sunny days.. While the summers are besides sunny also very hot spring and autumn season are still very sunny yet temperature wise very pleasant for European standards.
IMPROVEABLE
Accessibility by airplane
There is only one airport in Albania, Nene Tereza around 20km outside of Tirana. Only a few of the big airlines fly to Tirana, such as Lufthansa, Turkish Airways, British Airways or Alitalia. The only well known LCC is Wizzar, flying in from Budapest and since recently also from London. So unless flying with Wizzair it is quite costly to fly to Tirana. Also most airlines to not have a daily scheduled flight. The necessity of taking a stopover when flying to other Digital Nomad destinations in Europe such as Berlin, Lisbon or Sofia is quite inconvenient.
Accessibility of airport
The airport itself is not much further from the city center than most of the other European airports, however it can only by accessed by an hourly bus (from 6am to 6pm) or taxi. Many flights depart outside of this timeframe so either passenger have a long waiting time at the airport or they take they taxi (approximately 2000 LEK). Taking a taxi adds up to cost, taking the bus might be inconvenient.
Accessibility by train
There is currently no passenger train connection in Albania. Busses or Furgon (Mini Busses) are the only alternative when traveling longer distances on public transport.
Hotel and Airbnb prices
As written above – short stay accommodation is quite costly in comparison to regular daily expenses. Hotels with a high standard cost the same as in Berlin, Vienna or Lisbon. Airbnb accommodation too.
Roaming Charges for EU phone contracts
Albania is not in the free roaming sector of most EU operating network providers. So phone calls or data cost a high roaming fee or an additional Albanian provider Sim Card is needed (see above). This disadvantage occurs in SEA as well.
Noise
Tirana is a city full of noise. Mainly from traffic, stray dogs and music from the many cafés. Also the walls of apartments are not as thick or well isolated so hearing neighbours talk or their radio/TV is common.
Size of Startup Environment
Tiranas startup ecosystem is still in its initial forming process. There is only a very few events and hotspots so far – the Startup Digest for Tirana is empty, https://www.startupdigest.com/digests/tirana
So to meet local founders or other Digital Nomads requires more own initiative.
Summary and personal thoughts:
I stayed in Tirana for around 6 weeks in autumn 2017 and 3 weeks in April 2018. I felt that Tirana is a very suited city to spend work and leisure time especially in autumn and spring. It does not have the startup ecosystem as Berlin or Lisbon has it, or neither does it have the co-working and -living environment of Digital Nomad Hubs in Southeast-Asia. And that is actually good. These Hotspots have somehow turned into crowded, less authentic destinations, where shops and restaurants are opened with the only intention to serve to foreign entrepreneurs and Digital Nomads and to “get a piece of the cake” with the consequence that the former spirit and authenticity is being lost. This tendency in my opinion is not sustainable and of long term value for the local startup but also small business environment. I wish that Tirana attracts more foreign founders and Digital Nomads in the near future as it is certainly good for the local startup scene to get new ways of thinking entrepreneurship however I also wish that it does not attract to an extent that it changes it image vastly. This is a fine line to hit.