Yacine Hammadi: We recorded more than 10 million national tourists during the summer season – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazairia

I am pleased to welcome you to this meeting that brings together the frameworks of the tourism and handicraft sectors, which is of great importance to us, as it is part of a phased assessment process of the extent of implementation of the road map that we drew in accordance with the government’s work program in the part related to the tourism sector and handicrafts.

The Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, Yassin Hammadi, affirmed that carrying out evaluation work is a necessary and natural matter for the promotion and advancement of the tourism sector. In the light of benefiting from the expertise and successful experiences, and in our endeavor to serve our sector and our country.

The minister explained that the public authorities have pursued a policy of radical economic reforms aimed at modernizing the national economy in order to get rid of the dominance of hydrocarbons over it as soon as possible, through the full and rational exploitation of all available energies and capabilities, especially in light of these challenges, where the tourism sector and traditional industry played a major role. A pivotal role through a clear roadmap for the advancement of the sector, derived from the nineteenth commitment of the President of the Republic to promote tourism as an economic sector par excellence.

The implementation of this program has yielded tangible results, which directly contributed to restoring our country to its position on the world tourism map as one of the promising destinations, through the widespread praise of the Algerian destination in many international reports specialized in tourism, as well as international associations and organizations.

The statistics also indicate the remarkable development of tourism in our country through the unparalleled influx of tourists, whether foreign or local, within the framework of domestic tourism.

And on the mention of domestic tourism, Hammadi stressed that the latter has received the lion’s share of attention, in implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic, who paid special attention to this issue, stressing the need for the Algerian citizen to obtain his right to recreation and tourism care by providing tourism exhibits that are compatible with all segments of society. This is what we have worked to achieve with our tourism dealer partners in all fields of activity.

He said in this regard, “It was the year 2022, the year of the resurgence of domestic tourism par excellence, as we set our eyes on the comfort of the Algerian family and the provision of quality services at prices that correspond to their purchasing power is a priority, and one of the pillars of our policy in promoting and developing tourism, which allowed achieving positive results that can be summarized As follows, the registration of more than 10 million national tourists during the summer season and more than one million national tourists during the desert tourism season, the registration of nearly three million visitors and vacationers at the level of thermal institutions, and the approval of 12 tourism development plans for tourism expansion areas, Classified since 1988, which will allow the provision of 166 real estate containers, directed to embrace tourism investments with an estimated capacity of about 17,000 beds, with the creation of more than 34,000 direct and indirect jobs, as well as purifying the tourist real estate in order to place it without obstacles for the benefit of investors, through, correcting Information related to the administrative borders of 171 tourist expansion areas by updating the naming of municipalities, departments and states.

And the minister continued his speech, saying, “48 tourism expansion areas concerned with total or partial cancellation operations have been identified, distributed over 08 states, but completing this file is related to expressing an opinion and enriching the suggestions that were sent to the governors concerned with this process, and approving 208 tourism projects.” A new accommodation capacity of approximately 25,000 beds, which will contribute to the creation of more than 10,000 direct jobs, and the entry into service of 112 hotel establishments with a capacity of more than 11,500 beds, of which 51 benefited from an exceptional exploitation license within the framework of implementing the President of the Republic’s Instruction No. pending projects.

On the other hand, and to ensure the optimal promotion and marketing of Algeria’s tourist destination, the Minister of Tourism revealed that his ministerial department had “received the strategy of marketing Algeria’s tourist destination, within the framework of cooperation with the World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Development Program, the revival of international sectoral events, especially the International Tourism Salon And travels, and the International Festival of Desert Tourism organized after eight years of interruption, participation in 05 tourist salons abroad to promote the Algerian tourist destination. And the launch of a digital platform “Algeria Tourist Trails”, which was designed to promote the tourism products of our country through the thematic tourism paths of our country, which includes 380 paths and 1,147 tourist sites at the national level, as well as easing visa procedures to encourage attracting foreign tourists during the desert tourism season by By adopting the settlement visa formula upon entry.

With regard to traditional industry and crafts, the minister confirmed that his ministry has witnessed an active movement, which was manifested in: the registration of 28,500 new craftsmen, the training and qualification of about 74,000 craftsmen, project holders and knowledge holders, the organization of 1,127 local and national events, the launch of an electronic platform for the promotion and marketing of traditional industry products and 15 Online shop for craftsmen.

In this regard, I do not fail to recall the major axes of the sector development policy derived from the government’s action plan and related to the tourism sector and handicrafts.

With regard to tourism, Hammadi stressed that investment in tourism establishments is recording remarkable progress in some states, but it is proceeding slowly in others, despite the entry into force of the new investment law and the advantages it includes. beach and others.