IP3 with the support of Assist Impact and in cooperation with the Municipality of Saranda, conducted a feasibility study to determine the possibility of managing the beaches through a public-private partnership.

The purpose of this feasibility study is to provide the necessary decision-making for the development of a new strategy for managing the beaches in the city of Saranda in the function of public-private partnership.

Saranda is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. Given its coastal access and Mediterranean climate, Saranda is becoming more and more an attractive tourist destination. Tourism is thus the major economic resources, while other resources include services, fisheries and construction. The costal zone needed interventions to reduce negative tourist’s impact and to improve “hot spot” issues as coastal (beaches) Management and Protection, in cases caused by lack of beaches management, organised city coastal (beaches) as well as misuse of public beach space.

The need for Public Private Partnership is seen as the single and the best way for capital investment, since that municipal funds are insufficient to finance its duties and local borrowing is minimised. The idea is to implement a “design to contract” project for the service management, under a PPP scheme, of the public beaches of Saranda city. The overall objective of the Project is to bring in the first PPP feasible and successful cooperation between LGs and private market operators into the Saranda Touristic city, by implementing a first successful coastal (beach) management project in the MoS, which could then expand as a “best practice” into a beaches management and service delivery strategy for the whole region and for the other seaside cities. The project will be developed using a combined methodology. Qualitative and quantitative research will be used, during the project stages especially on designing of feasibility study.