Algeria set to inject new life into lagging tourism sector

Algerian Minister of Tourism and Craft Industry, Mohamed Amine Hadj Said, has brought out the government’s resolve to give a decisive boost to the flagging national tourism sector through a set of regulatory and organizational measures as early as possible.

Taking the floor during a press conference on Tuesday in Algiers on the sidelines of a broad – based assessment meeting devoted to the preparations for the 2014 summer season, Mr Hadj Said indicated that a relevant plan providing for the setting up of numerous tents and prefabricated summer houses in 14 coastal Algerian regions would be effective before the advent of the next summer season.

The tourism and craft industry Minister also said that the relevant authorities were determined to do away with the current hurdles preventing the boosting of a sound and viable tourism drive on account of the lingering anarchical drawbacks and the “couldn’t care less attitude” at the level of the country’s seaside resorts and other touristic facilities to the dismay of the holiday-makers and visitors in general.

Mr Mohamed Amine Hadj Said also emphasized that tourism workers needed to rally behind the slogan “Tourism is the business of us all” in order to achieve medium and long-term goals.

The sector’s first goal was to develop internal tourism by attracting the 1.9 million tourists who currently choose to spend to vacation abroad, he said. The second goal was to increase the number of foreign tourists who visit Algeria throughout the year and not only during specific periods, he added.

In 2012, some 250,000 European tourists visited Algeria. However, the tourism minister acknowledged the country suffered from a “lack of quality and capacity in terms of accommodation”.

“It is essential to create new infrastructure and improve the quality of our services in order to attract more tourists,” he said.

The tourism minister further pointed to a host of urgent measures to boost the national tourism industry, including improving quality, supporting training efforts, modernizing infrastructure, and regulating the industry.

To achieve these goals, tourism professionals are implementing a strategy that will be pursued until 2025.