Tourism
From The Report: Algeria 2018
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A diverse land of thermal springs, mountains, historic sites, vast desert and unspoilt Mediterranean coastline, Algeria offers a remarkable variety of activities for travellers. However, a decade-long civil war ending in 2002 and an antiquated transport infrastructure network have curtailed growth in the tourism sector, alongside negative perceptions abroad and a cumbersome visa regime. The flip side of underdevelopment is that the sector has massive potential to grow with the right sort of political will in place. As evidence of the latter, the government is currently implementing its long-term development blueprint for the sector. Known as the Tourism Development Masterplan 2030, it seeks to increase the sector’s share of GDP to 10%. Four new hotels are to be opened in the wilaya of Algiers in 2017, bringing the total there to 182, and growth in room numbers has been recorded across the country. In short, Algeria seems to be making the right moves to ensure that the capacity is there to support rising guest numbers.

This chapter contains an interview with Abdelkader Benmessaoud, Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Sights set high: Long-term development plan seeks to improve international perception and support hotel growth
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A diverse land of thermal springs, mountains, historic sites, vast desert and unspoilt Mediterranean coastline, Algeria offers a remarkable variety of activities for travellers. However, a decade-long civil war ending in 2002 and an antiquated transport infrastructure network has curtailed growth in the tourism sector, alongside negative perceptions abroad and a cumbersome visa regime. These challenges are reflected in the World Economic Forum’s “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report…

Interview

Alternative destination: Abdelkader Benmessaoud, Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, on facilitating a training development programme
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Interview: Abdelkader Benmessaoud How is the national strategy for 2030 being implemented in order to further develop tourism? ABDELKADER BENMESSAOUD: Algerian authorities have the firm intention to make the tourism sector a driver for economic growth. In 2018 all the conditions are in place for take-off. First, stability and security are strong factors of attractiveness. In addition, within a Mediterranean space that is saturated and running out of steam in terms of the variety of offerings, Algeria…

Analysis

Skills and development: Hotel and tourism upgrades provide a broad range of job opportunities from Algiers to Oran
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With new hotel and tourism developments in the pipeline, Algeria is looking to boost job growth in the industry while developing the skills needed in the labour force. In addition, the 2021 Mediterranean Games are set to give training programmes a timely boost as host city Oran prepares to take centre stage. Indeed, the July 2018 opening of a branch of the Algiers Higher School of Hotel and Restaurant Management (Ecole Supérieure d’Hôtellerie et de Restauration d’Alger, ESHRA) in Oran…