Tourism in Constantine and Béjaïa

Since the country’s independence in 1962, Algeria has relied primarily on revenues from its oil rent, without genuinely undertaking concrete actions to develop other sectors or activities capable of taking over and contributing to the development of the national economy. The various crises that have affected the oil sector in recent years and the disruptions that led to the drop in the price of a barrel of oil call for serious reflection on this matter.

For example, if we look at the model of our neighbors, Morocco and Tunisia, the absence of such oil wealth led them to focus from the start on developing tourism, which has become the driving force of their economies.

Algeria, in terms of the tourism potential it possesses, has nothing to envy its neighbors, whether in terms of natural, cultural, or historical resources. It is certain that if this potential were exploited wisely, the tourism sector could contribute significantly to strengthening the national economy.

All destinations in Algeria are equally attractive, whether located along the coast, inland, or in the Sahara. The focus of the study we propose is on two regions: one inland and one coastal, for practical and logical reasons, since the TES Research Unit, to which the researchers involved in this project belong, is located in Constantine, and one of the team members is originally from Bejaia. We were also asked to propose a project with socio-economic impact that naturally aligns with the priority themes of the Research Unit on Emerging Territories and Society.

Promoting the destinations of Constantine and Bejaia in the context of tourism is not solely the responsibility of the tourism department or travel agencies. To achieve tangible results, it is necessary to involve leaders from other sectors such as culture, communication, local authorities, and private partners who could contribute to developing this sector through their investments.

For our project, we aim to report on the current state of the tourism capital in Constantine, Bejaia, and their surrounding regions, as well as the resources available, to allow for targeted intervention by local public authorities responsible for promoting tourism, recognizing that tourism can contribute to consolidating the local economy.

Given the human, time, and financial resources we have (only four researchers involved in this three-year project), we chose to work on well-defined areas: the region of Constantine and the region of Bejaia. One region is inland, the other on the coast; both are known to have immense tourism potential—historical, natural, and cultural. For example: the rock of the old city, bridges, the Bey’s palace, the Mausoleum of Massinissa, dolmens and menhirs in Constantine; Mount Yemma Gouraya, the Monkeys’ Peak, Cap Carbon, Aokas Cave, and others in Bejaia, all of which would be interesting to showcase and share as cultural heritage.

Currently, the tourism infrastructure in Constantine and Bejaia is underdeveloped, and accompanying facilities, such as hotels and restaurants, are very limited and often fail to meet the required standards.

To demonstrate that there are opportunities to invest and generate wealth from the heritage of Constantine and Bejaia, we propose to examine the strengths and weaknesses of these destinations from a tourism perspective. The goal is to suggest approaches to unlock the financial potential that tourism can bring to these regions.

As a first step, we propose creating a monograph of these regions to assess the attractiveness of these destinations. This will highlight both the tangible and intangible heritage of Constantine and Bejaia.

We will also explore other questions related to the tourism destinations in Constantine and Bejaia, both domestically and internationally. We aim to understand who is attracted to these destinations, having noticed last summer a significant number of Tunisian tourists visiting the old city of Constantine.

All of this will take into account the infrastructure and services offered by Constantine and Bejaia, as well as the depreciation of the Algerian dinar and the rising cost of living for Algerians.

Project Objective:The primary objective of this socio-economic impact project is to draw attention, meet a demand, and contribute to local development by providing public authorities with solutions to improve tourism revenues and promote the two destinations we are focusing on: Constantine and Bejaia. A secondary, more concrete objective is to produce a publication and potentially one or two small guides compiling the tourism potential and tangible and intangible heritage of the two cities.

Long-term Objectives:

Provide tools and data that would allow local authorities to promote the tourist destinations of Constantine and Bejaia, ensuring the sustainability of a tourism tradition in each of these two regions.Generate income from tourism.