02.07.12 Algeria Focus Tourism investment

Algeria's Tourism Minister Smail Mimoune announced on the national radio last week that Algeria has set aside 56 billion dinars (Euros 560 million or US$720 million) to modernise its hotels and thermal baths, as the country seeks to diversify its economy away from it reliance on energy.

According to Mimoune, eight thermal baths will be modernised and renovated at a cost of 12 billion dinars. The remaining 44 billion dinars are for 58 public hotels. According to the report, the government is currently taking bids for their upgrading. The minister said that Algeria has 95,000 hotel beds and that a number of private-sector projects that were already under way aimed to raise that number by 80,000.

We should remind readers, as we reported recently that the government's statistics on the country's tourism industry are notoriously inaccurate.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

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