TIRANA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of visitors to Albanian archaeological parks, museums and historic and cultural heritage sites in 2017 recorded a growth of around 22 percent compared with 2016, the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) said on Saturday.

Statistics showed that archaeological parks were most-visited destinations in 2017, attracting more than 261,000 visitors, up by 13 percent compared to the previous year.

National Gallery of Art in Tirana, Ethnographic Museum in Gjirokaster, National History Museum in Tirana and Gjirokaster Castle are some of the most visited sites in the country.

The high increase in the number of visitors last year came from non-neighboring countries and especially from Western Europe countries.

There is also a large influx of tourists from new markets and especially from Poland, INSTAT noted in its report.