Formerly the most closed country in the world, Albania today welcomes millions of tourists, a larger portion of whom come each year in search of a radiant smile, full lips or new breasts.
“I don’t like talking about medical tourism. It’s a bit harsh, it’s scary… I prefer to talk about happiness tourism, which makes people happy,” Dritan Gremi, head of the tourism industry, told AFP. of a dental clinic in the capital, Tirana, which “offers high quality care with guaranteed and certified equipment” to European standards.
Italians, French, Belgians, Swiss…: many of them come to be treated at the Gremi clinic, which combines the discovery of the country with cosmetic surgery or orthodontics.
Albania offers dental procedures at competitive prices – without compromising the quality of care, assure Albanian health authorities.
Stéphane Pealat, team leader in Valence (south-east of France), suffered, like his brother, from numerous dental problems – abscesses, tooth loss, etc.
“In France, we had a first quote made which was very, very expensive. Then on the internet we started looking: Bulgaria, Turkey, Albania, Spain…”, he explains.
It was in Lyon, where the Albanian teams came to present their offers, that he heard about the Gremi clinic.
After a first stay “to see” in August, during which the doctors showed them the premises, the city…, the two brothers decided to return in the fall.
The French estimate amounted to 50,000 euros, says Stéphane. “For the same operation, the graft, the teeth…, here I got it for 13,500 euros”. A sum, but “to please people, to have a beautiful smile is still important”.
His partner has “great teeth”, so the operations, “I do them for me but also for her”.
Nathalie Gangloff, facilitator in an EHPAD in Cognac (south-west), also chose Albania to treat her serious dental problems.
“My treating doctor in France told me about a report which was broadcast on M6,” explains the woman who paid a little less than 15,000 euros – compared to 42,000 euros in France.
After first treatment in February (extraction and placement of implants), she returned to Tirana in mid-September, “happy” to have found her smile.
“With my job as a presenter, it’s important to have good hair, to have beautiful teeth…”, said, without hiding her joy, the one who immediately changed her Facebook profile photo to show her warm smile.
– Hyaluronic acid –
Low management costs and taxation that does not exceed 15% allow Albanian clinics to be very competitive and place themselves on the medical tourism map.
The sector’s turnover is estimated at 200 to 250 million euros per year. According to the scant data available, at least 50,000 Italians come for treatment in Tirana every year.
For Anna Maria, a thirty-year-old from Milan, “the smile of the soul also passes through the lips”. A psychologist, she took advantage of her vacation to have dental veneers fitted, an operation to which she added a lip operation.
“After dental care, more and more foreign tourists are also resorting to cosmetic treatments to brighten their smile,” Monika Fida, dermatologist and university professor in Tirana, explains to AFP.
Hyaluronic acid injections certified to European standards are very popular.
“Above all, they want to feel good, as natural as possible. And to have well-defined lips,” adds Ms. Fida, who welcomes between 750 and 1,000 foreign patients to her clinic each year.
Vera Panaitov, 60, a chef in Verona, in northern Italy, first came to brush her teeth. But added other operations once there: she had her breasts done and her waist refined.
“You have to be beautiful at any age and experience love and happiness at every moment,” she says, smiling on her hospital bed, which she will leave in a few days, “happy and rejuvenated.”
Christine Cincunegui, a French business leader, may soon take his place. Coming to Paris to consult Albanian doctors on tour to promote their clinics, she seems seduced.
“To feel more beautiful and also have fun? What more do we want!”
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