Mali conflict turns Tassili and Hoggar into ‘no-go zones’

The chairman of the National Union of Tourism Agencies in the Algerian Sahara, Bachir Djaribi has said that the conflict in northern Mali has turned the regions of the Tassili and Hoggar in the Algeria Deep South into “no-go zones”.

Mr Djaribi told Echorouk that this untoward situation had severely affected Saharan tourism with foreign and national tourists now shunning these two regions because of the risks entailed by the ongoing conflict in north Mali.

He said that the influx of tourists notably from Europe has been curtailed by about 60 per cent dealing a severe blow to over 150 travel agencies involved in the business of Saharan tourism.

These hapless travel agencies which are now in the throes of financial difficulties, have banked on the end-of-year celebrations to receive the usual flow of foreign tourists into the Hoggar and Tassili regions but their business plans have fizzled out, he woefully said.