Day: June 3, 2024

ORAN, Algeria — Algeria wants to lure more visitors to the cultural and scenic treasures of Africa’s largest country, shedding its status as a tourism backwater and expanding a sector outshone by competitors in neighboring Morocco and Tunisia.  

The giant north African country offers Roman and Islamic sites, beaches and mountains just an hour’s flight from Europe, and haunting Saharan landscapes, where visitors can sleep on dunes under the stars and ride camels with Tuareg nomads.  

But while tourist-friendly Morocco welcomed 14.5 million visitors in 2023, bigger, richer Algeria hosted just 3.3 million foreign tourists, according the tourism ministry.  

About 1.2 million of those holiday-makers were Algerians from the diaspora visiting families.  

The lack of travelers is testimony to Algeria’s neglect of a sector that remains one of world tourism’s undiscovered gems.  

As Algeria’s oil and gas revenues grew in the 1960s and 70s, successive governments lost interest in developing mass tourism. A descent into political strife in the 1990s pushed the country further off the beaten track.  

But while security is now much improved, Algeria needs to tackle an inflexible visa system and poor transport links, as well as grant privileges to local and foreign private investors to enable tourism to flourish, analysts say.  

Saliha Nacerbay, General Director of the National Tourism Office, outlined plans to attract 12 million tourists by 2030 – an ambitious fourfold increase.  

“To achieve this, we, as the tourism and traditional industry sector, are seeking to encourage investments, provide facilities to investors, build tourist and hotel facilities,” she said, speaking at the International Tourism and Travel Fair, hosted in Algiers from May 30 to June 2.  

Algeria has plans to build hotels and restructure and modernize existing ones. The tourism ministry said that about 2,000 tourism projects have been approved so far, 800 of which are currently under construction.  

The country is also restoring its historical sites, with 249 locations earmarked for tourism expansion. Approximately 70 sites have been prepared, and restoration plans are underway for 50 additional sites, officials said.  

French tourist Patrick Lebeau emphasized the need to improve infrastructure to fully realize Algeria’s tourism prospects.  

“Obviously, there is a lot of tourism potential, but much work still needs to be done to attract us,” Lebeau said.  

Tourism and travel provided 543,500 jobs in Algeria in 2021, according to the Statista website. In contrast, tourism professionals in Morocco estimate the sector provides 700,000 direct jobs in the kingdom, and many more jobs indirectly.

(WHTM) – Cucumbers shipped to 14 states are being recalled by a Florida company over possible salmonella contamination.

Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. of Delray, Florida is recalling cucumbers shipped from May 17 to May 21, according to a notice published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The cucumbers were shipped in bulk cartons to retail distribution centers, wholesalers, and food service distributors in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The recall began after the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture informed the company that a product sample tested positive for the bacteria.

The recall affects whole cucumbers and does not affect mini or English cucumbers. The recalled cucumbers are dark green, approximately 1.5–2.0 inches in diameter, and 5–9 inches long, according to the FDA.

(Photos of the cucumbers from the FDA)

Salmonella symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, salmonella can result in severe illness.

The FDA says although it’s unlikely these cucumbers are available for purchase, consumers can still check with retailers or the place of purchase to determine where they were originally obtained.

Consumers with additional questions may contact Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. at 1-888-364-2993, M-F, 8 a.m.—5 p.m. EDT.

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