Algeria is stepping up efforts to revitalize its tourism industry, seeking to lure both more local and foreign investment. After years of neglect, however, Algeria’s tourist infrastructure has a long way to go before the country catches up with its neighbors in the Maghreb in becoming a destination of choice.
According to figures from the tourism ministry, Algeria attracted 1.74 million visitors in 2008. Nonetheless, more than 1.2 million of these were Algerian expatriate nationals returning home for holidays, with just over 500,000 tourists originating from other countries.
By contrast, Tunisia hosted around seven million overseas visitors in 2008 and Morocco eight million, according to official figures, which leave Algeria’s results looking pale in the shade.
In the race to develop its tourism amenities, Algeria has set itself the ambitious target of attracting 20 million overseas visitors per year by 2025. To this end, the government has drawn up a strategy, the Schéma Directeur d’Aménagement Touristique, (SDAT) — or ‘National Tourism Development Plan’ — which identifies areas for potential development and measures to attract investment.
As part of SDAT, more than 280 new hotels are due to be built, a program that is already underway. At the end of January, Tourism, Environment and Land Planning Minister Cherif Rahmani announced that contracts for 90 new hotels, including 12 rated as five-star, had been signed with domestic investors as part of the government’s overall strategy to expand the existing visitor accommodation pool.
In 2001, tourism contributed 1.7 percent to Algeria’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, this figure has grown progressively in recent years. In its latest assessment of the industry issued last year, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said tourism’s contribution to Algeria’s GDP would rise from 6.4 percent, or $8.4 billion in 2008, to 6.6 percent or $13 billion by 2018. Furthermore, the WTTC has predicted solid growth for the Algerian tourism sector over the next decade, in line with general expectations for the country’s economy as a whole.
No great employer
While the government is hoping that growing interest in Algeria as a tourism destination, along with the subsequent investment, will help reduce the ranks of the jobless, the WTTC predicts only a modest rise in the overall percentage of the workforce employed in the sector over the next 10 years, from last year’s total of 506,000 to 666,000 by 2018. In spite of the absolute increase in the number of positions, this would only represent a minimal increase in terms of total employment, from 5.6 percent to 5.7 percent, due to the expanding employment pool in Algeria, with more of the relatively young population entering the workforce.
In an interview with Oxford Business Group (OBG) last year, Rahmani identified a number of key issues that Algeria had to address before it could realize its full potential as a tourism destination. Chief among these issues was the need to improve the quality of human resources in the sector. As a result, the government has established a national academy to train tourism staff at Tipaza. It provides students with a broad range of skills, including increased awareness of information and communication technologies, an issue identified by the government as vital to the development of the sector.
Among some of the other factors Rahmani highlighted as impeding progress were weaknesses in public health and infrastructure, along with the threat of terrorism.
While none of these issues can be solved overnight, progress is being made. The state’s $150 billion program designed to improve infrastructure and social services has seen some of these concerns addressed, with airports upgraded and road access to coastal and interior regions improved.
Protecting the tourists
Security has also been bolstered with the formation last July of a new 1000-strong police unit to operate at tourist sites across the country. The country’s image as a safe tourist destination has been constantly rocked by ongoing terrorist attacks, with many countries such as Canada, the US and member states of the EU urging visiting nationals to be cautious when travelling in Algeria, particularly in remote or outlying areas.
The security push is key, given that it is precisely these remote areas that Algeria hopes will help its tourism drive, as it seeks to promote adventure tours and diversify its existing industry away from its focus on the sun and sand of the country’s coastal strip.
“Saharan tourism is crucial for us,” Rahmani said, adding that the government had identified four sites for development. However, investors and potential visitors will remain wary if the security situation does not improve.
Until then, and until the full benefits of SDAT are felt, the country’s tourism industry will be overshadowed by those of its Maghreb neighbors. But blessed with stunning landscape and hundreds of kilometers of coastline, by 2025 Algeria may have found its place in the sun.
