FLIGHTS:

The event will start at 12:00pm in Albania on Thursday and finish on Sunday with an airport drop off at Tirana airport at approximately 3:00pm. There is only 1 airport in Tirana (Tirana – TIA) which is 45 minutes to the hotel. The cheapest taxi options in Albania are local taxis and it costs around 20-25 Euros to get from the airport to the hotel.

TIRANA AS A CITY:

Lively, colourful Tirana is where this tiny nation’s hopes and dreams coalesce into a vibrant whirl of traffic, brash consumerism and unfettered fun. Having undergone a transformation of extraordinary proportions since awaking from its communist slumber in the early 1990s, Tirana’s centre is now unrecognisable from those grey days, with buildings painted in primary colours, and public squares and pedestrianised streets that are a pleasure to wander.

Read More: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/albania/tirana

JEWISH ALBANIA:

The history of the Jews in Albania dates back about 2,000 years. According to historian Apostol Kotani (Albania and the Jews): “Jews may have first arrived in Albania as early as 70 C.E. as captives on Roman ships that washed up on the country’s southern shores…descendants of these captives that would build the first synagogue in the southern port city of Sarandë in the fifth century…[but] Little is known about the Jewish community in the area until the 15th century.”

In the early 16th century, there were Jewish settlements in most of major cities of Albania such as Berat, Elbasan, Vlorë, Durrës and also they are reported as well in Kosovo region. These Jewish families were mainly of Sephardi origin and descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Iberia in the end of 15th century. Present-day Albanian Jews, predominantly of Romaniote and Sephardi origin, have in modern times only constituted a very small percentage of the population.

Albania had about 200 Jews at the beginning of World War 2. It subsequently became a safe haven for several hundred Jewish refugees from other countries. At the Wannsee Conference in 1942, Adolf Eichmann, estimated the number of Jews in Albania that were to be killed at 200. Nevertheless, Jews in Albania remained protected by the local Christian and Muslim population and this protection continued even after the occupation of Albania by Nazi forces after the capitulation of Italy on September 8, 1943. At the end of the war, Albania had a population of 2,000 Jews. During the Second World War, Jews were concealed in the homes and basements of 60 families from the Muslim and Christian communities in Berat.

Today, around 40 to 50 Jews are living in Albania, most of them are living in the capital,^[27] Tirana. An old synagogue was discovered in the city of Saranda and a new synagogue which is known as “Hechal Shlomo” started providing services to the Jewish community in Tirana in December 2010. A synagogue still exists in Vlorë, but it is no longer in use.

THE HOTEL:

Experience a hotel full of warmth, personal attention and traditional elegance abound in this deluxe premium hotel. The hotel Spa provides its guests with an extensive range of wellness facilities, complete with a wide selection of revitalising treatments where precision is the call of the day, a fitness centre and swimming pool. The rooms and suites within the hotel are designed for your utmost comfort and relaxation. Awake from blissful sleep and absorb the views of scenic Albania below.

Discount Qualification

Participants must prove financial situation warranting discount. A copy of a valid passport and/or references are required. Documents and/or letter outlining your request with contact details of either a Rabbi or Jewish community organization who can vouch for your limited finances should be sent via e-mail to info@jep.eu

If you are awarded a further “extra” discount to the advertised prices we ask that you try your best to attend every session of our program, especially the workshops and lectures, to reflect your appreciation of this donation. A thank you letter about your experiences at the event is required for our sponsors within 2 weeks following the event.

Limited availability. Discounts will be granted solely at the discretion of ECJS & JEP and its partners and special offer discounts are only valid on main event dates and exclude extra costs such as extra nights/membership fee etc.

Special Discount Offer and Early-bird Offer Period End-Date

This is the date all registration and payments must be RECEIVED by the ECJS & JEP office. It is entirely the discretion of the ECJS & JEP office staff to decide whether a participant fulfills the demands for the offers, and ECJS & JEP hold the full right to charge non-offer price if they believe this is not the case.

Group Organiser or other Special Offers

These are only applicable to you as an individual and do not apply to any other participants, for example a discount in a 2 person room is a discount on your participation rate and not for the other person sharing the room. It is entirely the discretion of the ECJS & JEP office staff to decide whether a participant fulfills the demands for the offers.

Cancellation Policy

This is the general cancellation policy.

For cancellations until 23:59 on 05 October 2023 we will refund all payment except for 50 Euros admin fee for our staff to process this cancellation. From 06 OCtober 2023 until 23:59 on 19 October 2023, we will refund 70% of your payment, providing the event sells out and we manage to re-sell your place. Otherwise we will not be able to offer a refund. After 19 October 2023, all cancellations will get no refund even for a medical emergency, except for Covid-19 related cancellation where we obtain any refund (see Covid-19 section). The reason for this deduction is due to the risk we are taking, as well as the event low prices, the longer administration process involved in changing your booking, and often involves more time and expensive phone calls trying to find a replacement.

ECJS & JEP will have already booked, ordered and paid for everything for you. We will not be able to receive refunds for any of these purchases. Please understand that ECJS & JEP is a non-profit organization. We invest over €100 for each member to attend the event beyond the member fee that was paid. With your cancellation we lose this investment as well.

This is our cancellation policy and we apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause you. You agree that by submitting any event registration form or “ticket” via our website, you thereby acknowledge that you have read and understand this permission agreement and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions.