TIRANA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of tourists visiting Albania increased by 12.5 percent during the first three months of 2018, Albanian Minister of Tourism and Environment Blendi Klosi said on Friday during the opening ceremony of the second edition of the Mediterranean Tourism Fair in Tirana.

The visit of 65,000 more tourists to Albanian only in the first three months of 2018 is good news for the country because it directly influences the life of citizens and their well-being, said Klosi.

The increasing number of tourists, according to Klosi, means more money and employment for the Albanian people.

Moreover, he expressed the engagement of the ministry to manage the ever-higher interest of foreign tourists to Albania.

"The major goal of the Albanian government is to build a long-term tourist industry that generates income, prosperity, and employment for citizens in the long run. And we will have set up this industry when we do not talk about tourism holidays anymore, but about 12-month tourism," emphasized Klosi.

In March 2018 Albanian National Statistics Institute (INSTAT) declared that the number of foreign citizen arrivals to the territory of Albania during the first two months of 2018, is 422,869 persons, increasing by 18.0 percent compared with the same period of 2017.

According to INSTAT in February 2018, among the countries with the highest incomes of citizens in Albania, Poland had the highest growth by 19.2 percent, whereas the largest decrease was from Macedonia by 14.3 percent.