Around 2,000 Foreign Tourists Visited Tassili Najjer With The French Being In The Lead

Tourism and Traditional Industries Director of the province of Illizi, in south-eastern Algeria, Mr. Samir Philipone, told “Echorouk” that the province has received 1,978 foreign tourists since the start of the tourist season with on prime focus the southern Tassili Najjer destination.
He explained in this respect that this number has doubled several times compared to the previous year due to several reasons, especially the current stability of the security situation in the southern region, “and the good image that has characterized foreign tourism in the area of Tassili Najjer thanks to the strenuous security-related efforts deployed by the National People’s Army” (ANP).
The country has seen a dramatic decline in the number of foreign tourists for several years, and tourism is being rejuvenated again in the southern Tassili region, which is regarded as “the largest open air museum in the entire world.”
The simplification of visa procedures has greatly encouraged the influx of foreign tourists to Algeria.
“Tourist agencies faced constraints in the past to operate because of the delay in being formally endorsed by the relevant authorities”, he noted to this effect.
“But this problem is no longer on the table during this tourist season,” he pointed out.
Our interlocutor further indicated that the number of tourists who arrived in the region was set at about 788, with notably some 200 tourists recorded for the New Year holidays in the Tassili Najjer region.
Mr Samir Philipone also presented figures on the growing domestic tourism, saying a total of 7,000 local tourists have so far visited various regions of the Algerian Deep South.