The oasis of Djamet and the Tassili n’Ajjer park is attracting more and more tourists, according to Algerian media. The authorities have made it easier to obtain visas to travel to the region.
Desert but not deserted. More than 4,000 foreign tourists, mostly Westerners, have visited the oasis of Djanet since 2021 and the introduction of a new visa system, Algerian media report. Visitors also head to the nearby Tassili n’Ajjer Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its cave paintings and unique biosphere.
The Tassili n’Ajjer is a desert plateau with an area of nearly 120,000 km2. Its canyons and escarpments and its “forests of rocks” emerging from the dunes are a delight for amateur photographers.
“If you come to Djanet once, you have to go back. That’s exactly what happened to me. I’m here with two friends, they just want to is to come back as soon as possible,” Karim Benacine, a 57-year-old French tourist.
Access facility
Well aware of the region’s tourist potential, the authorities have simplified the administrative procedures for getting there. Since 2021, the visa regime has been lightened, allowing the precious sesame to be collected directly at the airport. A Paris-Djanet airline has also been opened.
After 14 years of being closed to foreign tourists, Algeria has reopened its doors to them. The country relies in particular on Russian customers and has already invited delegations of tour operators and journalists to visit Tassili n’Ajjer in recent years. A line linking Saint Petersburg to Algiers was also put in place at the end of July to “bring our two countries even closer”, as Air Algerie boss Yacine Benslimane told Sputnik.
Outside the southern Sahara, Algeria is also known for its seaside resorts and coastal towns, from Oran to Ghazaouet. Recent measurements have also made it possible to discover that the country had a longer coastline than supposed.
