Russian tour operators, journalists, and influencers will travel to Algeria to participate in an educational tour. Invited by Algerian tourism professionals, they will visit several regions of the country including Hoggar and Tassili n’Ajjer Located in the heart of the Sahara.
Algeria wants to revive tourism, a sector set aside for several years because of the security situation. Professionals seem to want to target Russian tourists as a priority. It is in this context that a one-week eductour will take place from October 22. Organized by the Ministry of Tourism, the public group Hôtellerie et Tourisme thermal (HTT) as well as travel agencies in southern Algeria, it will allow around a hundred representatives of tour operators, journalists, and influencers to appreciate the potential of this Maghreb country.
The Algerian Ministry of Tourism announces on its Facebook page the organization of the educational tour for the benefit of the Russian delegation.
Tin-Hinan and De Foucauld
In fact, this initiative started with a quack. Initially scheduled for October 15 to 23, this trip was postponed for a week because of a problem with the flight plan of the plane that was to transport the group to Algeria. “The problem has been solved, they will travel by Air Algeria”, assures Sputnik a source from the Algerian Ministry of Tourism.
Russian visitors will be treated to a particularly rich program. They will spend one night in the capital than the next day departure for Tamanrasset, 1,900 kilometers south of Algiers. During two days in the heart of Hoggar, they will have the opportunity to visit the hermitage of Father Charles de Foucauld built at the top of Mount Assekrem at an altitude of 2,780 meters as well as the site of Abalessa which houses the tomb of Tin-Hinan. (Antinea), queen of the Tuaregs. Then direction Djanet, where they will visit the Tassili Cultural Park. Covering an area of 138,000 km², it is considered the area with the most rock carvings in the world. Russian visitors should also go to explore the huge ancient city of Seffar as well as the Red Tadrart, rocky landscape dotted with ocher dunes.
After four days in the Sahara, return to the north of the country where they will have the opportunity to visit the Roman ruins of Tipaza as well as the Kasbah of Algiers. It is a real challenge for Algerian professionals who are banking on the success of this operation. Contacted by Sputnik, Brahim Aflah Hadj-Nacer, director of the Zyriab Voyages agency, believes that Russian customers should be attracted by “seaside tourism”.
“What we know about Russian clients is that they are attracted to the sea and we have great potential in this area. For seaside tourism, they are also the main clientele of countries such as Tunisia and the United States. Egypt,” he says.
According to Brahim Aflah Hadj-Nacer, Algerian tourism professionals must be creative in order to interest Russian tourists. “We have a magnificent coast with quality hotel establishments. There are of course the public infrastructures that date back to the 1970s which have been refurbished and also private establishments. We should not be ashamed and bet fully on our potential”, he emphasizes.
The completely renovated seaside village of Tipaza, one of the many infrastructures designed by the French architect Fernand Pouillon during the 1970s.
Brahim Aflah Hadj-Nacer wonders about the interest of Russian customers for Saharan tourism, which remains a specific product focused on discovery and adventure. “We should see if the new generation will be attracted to the Sahara because it is a specific product. It is true that Russia is changing and some inhabitants of this country could be tempted by discovery and adventure and stay several days in the desert,” he adds. Answer in a few days, at the end of the stay of the Russian delegation.
