We met the Director of the Tunisian National Tourist Office in Algiers, Foued El Oued on the occasion of the 24th SITEV tourism trade show (July 12 to 15). He gave us the lowdown on this market, its opportunities and its obstacles.
The context
The context is that of a country, Algeria, which occupies a special place in Tunisian tourism: it is the leading outbound country for Tunisia, with 3.5 million visitors, but also the leading destination for Tunisians, with 1.7 million visitors.
A country driven by the desire to develop its tourism, but also concerned about its tourism balance. Indeed, we’ve observed that the front pages of Algerian newspapers and official statements all revolve around the development of local tourism. The announced doubling of hotel capacity (250,000 beds planned by 2030) and the renovation of 43 state-owned hotels belonging to the HTT group are aimed primarily at keeping Algerian tourists at home.
However, this legitimate concern to preserve the country’s tourism balance comes up against the current scarcity of local hotel units and their high cost for the average Algerian’s wallet, who continues to prefer Tunisia and, to a lesser extent, Turkey and Egypt.
One thing is certain: the Algerian government’s determination to develop tourism will eventually transform the market. We have already noticed the first results, particularly in the capital Algiers: the facades of buildings in the city center and the old palaces of the Casbah have been renovated or are in the process of being renovated.
Improvements in infrastructure (notably the Algiers metro, the increasing number of restaurants and hotels offering services worthy of a tourist capital) and, above all, the arrival of young executives and employees with “flexible backbones”, to quote President Tebboune, augur well for the destination’s imminent transformation.
However, in the opinion of several Algerian travel agents, destinations like Tunisia still have a bright future ahead of them if they know how to improve their services and maintain their competitiveness.
For Tunisia, land border crossings are a real nuisance. Waiting times are still counted in hours during the high season, and tend to become a real brake on the choice of Tunisia by Algerian tourists who don’t have the budget for air travel.
By Lotfi Mansour, tourism consultant (former director of specialized magazines; initiator and Honorary President of the Tunisia Convention Bureau).
Production: MCM.