Strategies for the sustainable development of tourism through the design of tourist facilities (example of the Algerian coast)

Introduction.

The coastal area in Algeria is one of the richest geographical entities in terms of resources (economic, landscape, infrastructure, population), tourism sector represents important factors influencing economic growth and development of cities and societies around the world ^[1]. The tourism sector has become a growing trend in multi-level architectural and urban projects in developing countries and gaining increased importance for the economic development of countries in the north of Africa. Currently, there is a huge global demand for touristic zones ^[2].

For many decades, the tourism sector in Algeria has declined significantly and in order to promote this activity in recent years, the Algerian authorities have undertaken a series of initiatives and efforts made, such as encouraging investment in the sector. Despite this, Algerian tourism remains underdeveloped, and the lack of basic structures and tourism products is one of the factors that limit the development of tourism in this field. Note that Algeria is able to provide tourism products based on nature and eco-tourism. Moreover, according to world travel and tourism council report (2020) in Algeria, tourism grew significantly more at 3.5% While the global economy grew by 2.5% ^[3].

The purpose of this paper is to give a theoretical overview of the different strategies for sustainable development through the design of the different touristic facilities in Algerian coastline. The aim of this article is to evaluate selected tourism development strategies in Algeria, in term of facilities, ecosystem and sustainable development principles. Methodologically, the research began with a review of the literature on the evaluation of strategic documents in the tourism sector and a review of the different strategies, principles and different facilities that can be used for the development of tourism and the sustainable development in coastal regions.

Case of the study.

This research analyze the tourism sector situation in the Algerian coastline which extends for a distance of 1200 km on the Mediterranean sea include 14 Algerian cities (El-Taraf, Annaba, Skikda, Jijel, Bejaia, Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, Alger, Tipaza, Chlef, Mostaganem, Oran, Ain-Temouchent, Tlemcen), each city is characterized by a variety of geography and landscape. This coastal region was chosen as a case study area because it the most important regions in term of tourism in Algeria, due to its natural landscapes, cultural diversity and different potentialities of the Mediterranean Sea coastline and where the large part of the Algerian population concentrated as shown in the figure 1.

Figure 1. Distribution of population in Algeria. Source: d.maps.com

The Mediterranean basin area is considered to be a well-developed area, accounting for around 30% of international tourist flows. However, the international rate of tourism varies from one country to another, this difference is due, on the uneven level of development of tourist infrastructures, on the one hand, and to the natural and human potentials of the sites and reception ^[4]. Moreover, Tourism represents very large shares of GDP (gross domestic product) for north African developing countries: 14.30% for Egypt, 8% for Morocco, 7% for Tunisia and 4.2% for Algeria, Thus, compared to the neighbouring countries (Morocco, Tunis, Egypt ), unfortunately, Algeria is considered underdeveloped in the field of tourism compering other countries as Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

Tourist Facilities Situation in Algeria.

Sustainable development and equally sustainable tourism enact effective policies for environmental protection and infrastructure development ^[5], Tourism is a mixed economy that would not exist without public means ^[2]. The development of the touristic facilities will be of great help in strengthening the regional and national tourism sector. Generally, the Algerian hotel park consists of 1,136 establishments totalling 96,500 beds, most of the large facilities are located in coastal cities (figure 2).

The problems of tourist facilities in Algeria are considered a qualitative and quantitative problem. Diversity in tourism facilities is absent due to the lack of a clear strategy. The state’s participation council is devoting 70 billion dinars to the rehabilitation of hotels. Furthermore the forecasts expect a capacity of around 120,000 beds by 2020.

The tourism sector in Algeria accounts for 5.7% of the volume of exports ^[3] , 9.5% of the productive investment rate and 8.1% of the Gross Domestic Product. With 2,7 million foreign tourists in 2013 Algeria was the 4th largest tourist destination in Africa, and ranked 111th on the international tourism scene ^[6]. Thus, the tourism sector does not contribute to the economy and is still considered underdeveloped with regard to tourist centers, complexes, accommodations and other services. Therefore, the government launched a strategic plan to boost this sector by 2025. According to the US News & World Report, Algeria was ranked among the 80 best countries in the world in 2018, which adopt several criteria, different businesses, citizenship, culture, influence, heritage, quality of life, and many other criteria ^[7].

Fig 2. Touristic faciliteis in Algeria, 1) The tourist complex of the Golden Horn in Tipaza 2) El Aurassi Hotel in Algiers, 3) Renaissance Hotel in Tlemcen,4) The Sheraton Annaba Tower in Annaba, 5) The Sheraton Oran Hotel & Tower of Oran 6) Hilton Hotel Algiers.

On the other hand, tourism is growing strongly in the summer in coastal cities, although tourism is a secondary activity for a large portion of the population living coastal cities in Algeria. Moreover, the potential of marine tourism in these areas is great, but it must be framed, developed, and supported by different infrastructure and facilities that are very weak in the various coastal cities. The development of the touristic facilities will be of great help in strengthening the regional and national coastal tourism sector.

Urbanization, facilities and tourist expansion zones in Algerian coastline.

Today, with the new urbanization also raises many questions about spatial planning in the comfort areas ^[8]. In term of urban planning and the integration of touristic facilities many problem are posed in all Algerian city. The identification of positive and negative consequences associated with the spatial patterns and various forms of tourism may allow community planners to choose tourism designs and facilities suitable for different types of tourists and a greater understanding of tourism planning processes according to the economic, sociocultural, administrative and political factors. Public spaces also have an important impact in serving the local population and tourist ^[8]. So that it must be developed and organized and provide quality service. The social, cultural and economic value of these integrated spaces is enhanced as a result of the increase in the number and diversity of users and the diversity of their activities. Because these spaces also contribute to the development of tourism and the different facilities from the cultural and economic side.

Although there are many laws to develop tourism and preserve the environment and natural resources, and also about the conduct of different tourism facilities, the reality is very different concerns the application of these laws, for example:

- - Law No. 87-03 of June 07, 1987: relating to the protection of the environment.

- - Executive Decree No. 89-09 of January 07, 1989: relating to the determination of the zones to promote

- - Executive Decree No. 2000-46 of 25 / Dhou El Kaada / 1420. Corresponding to March 1, 2000: defining the hotel establishments and fixing their organization, their functioning as well as the methods of their exploitation.

- - Law N 03-01 of 16 Dhou El Hidja 1423 corresponding to February 17, 2003: relating to the sustainable development of tourism

Although there are several tourist complexes with a good architectural design with a well-chosen natural location. However, the problem of managing, organization of existing resources and the poor exploitation of the various activities has deteriorated its tourist value. The most used touristic facilities types in coastal cities are generally, hotels and complex touristic and there’s a very urgent need for a variety of types of facilities. The development policy in Algeria to delimit zones of tourist expansion distributed throughout the national territory and which gives the possibility to the investors to carry out their projects in seaside, Saharan, urban, rural, or climatic zones. All of its regions have 174 tourist expansion zones classified by the law No. 88-232 of November 5, 1988, with a total area of 47,073 hectares, these zones are distributed over the national territory as follows ^[4]:

• 140 ZETs established on 14 Coastal cities and representing an area of 34,852.86 ha.
• 13 ZETs located in the interior cities and the high plains and covering 3,480.6 ha.
• 20 ZETs located at the level of 8 cities in the South with an area of 9501.09 ha.

Tourist Facilities.

Since 2014, Algeria has 205 declared and classified ZETs ^[9], Moreover, more than 140 ZETs established are whispered on 14 Coastal cities. Coastal areas in Algeria are more attractive to tourists, and thus the areas of tourism expansion are significantly larger compared to other cities. There’s a range of tourist facilities that can be developed in these the ZETs (Tourist expansion area) under a sustainable strategy for the development of the coastline tourism in Algeria we can mention the following types of facilities:

On the urban and architectural level, The design of these tourist facilities must adopt an environmental design taking into account the biological diversity, socio-cultural factor and the use of environmental materials in order to improve the energy performance of the buildings. Environmental, non-polluting, and natural materials can be used to reduce energy consumption, thereby reducing waste and saving water and electricity. Thanks to natural materials and the reduction of chemicals harmful to health, in order to make the tourism environment more sustainable. Designing these facilities with eco-design and sustainable principals will minimize any object the various environmental impacts.

Sustainable tourism strategies and development principals.

The tourism sector interacts with several fields such as fishing, agriculture, transport ... etc. Whether through environmental impacts or through economic interdependencies. Therefore, the principles of sustainable development are related to many aspects (environmental, economic, social and cultural). On the other hand, the right balance between these aspects must be maintained in order to ensure their sustainability. Today, the concept of sustainable tourism nowadays combines social, cultural, environmental and economic issues as well as political issues. Although sustainability is inherently environmental - it is considered as an ecosystem that combines many factors together. According to WCED the Sustainable development is considered as a process to meet the needs of the present generation, without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ^[6]. According to Ritchie and Crouch (2003) The development strategy for tourism in the region should be part of the overall socio-economic development planning process in the region ^[10].

In fact, the Algerian State displays its vision of national tourism development with different horizons in the short, medium and long term within the framework of sustainable development one of the master plan examples is “The Tourist Development Master Plan "SDAT2030" which Constitutes the strategic reference framework for Algeria’s tourism policy. The SDAT 2030 is a component of the SNAT 2030 which shows how the State intends to ensure, in a framework of sustainable development, the triple balance of social equity, economic efficiency and ecological sustainability at the country level whole for the next twenty years. The new tourism policy pursues five (05) major objectives:

1. Tourism as one of the engines of economic growth;

2. Promote the economic sectors (agriculture, industry, crafts, services);

3. Combine the promotion of tourism and the environment;

4. Promote the historical and cultural heritage;

5. Sustainably improve the image of Algeria.

The tourism development strategy must be closely related to the infrastructure and availability of various tourist facilities. Also, with the involvement of several conceptual frameworks and processes that can be applied by the various national tourism organizations and private institutions when planning and implementing sustainable tourism development strategies. Generally, Six main components are the basis for the concept of sustainable development ^[2].

Figure 3. Basis for the concept of sustainable development. Source: Djamal khatou 2019.

The most important prerequisite for the development of strategy and the development of tourism in the marine area of the coast is to improve the quality of life of the local community and infrastructure development of cities while maintaining the principles of sustainable development ^[11].

Goals of Tourism Development.

The tourism goal of the process is, in effect, the self-actualisation of individuals within a society, embracing at least five dimensions. tourism development is multidimensional includes economic and social growth, health care, housing, education, and the freedom of all individuals in society ^[12]. The spatial integration of tourist and residential areas appears to be crucial to planning in coastal cities in order to integrate them and make society a participant in development ^[13]. Unfortunately, there is little research that analyses the effects of different types of residential and tourist communities together and analyses the quality of life and social performance of communities with their adjacent tourist facilities, we can mention the example of the Jemaa el-Fnaa place in Morocco which is considered as one of important destination for tourist, and consider as the most world-famous square (Fig. 4). The main and important component of urban public spaces are the comfortable seat options ^[14], the services available near them, the quality of the audio comfort, and also the hygiene.

Figure 4: Jemaa el-Fnaa place in Marrakech, Morocco, source: https://www.labass.net/34126-marrakech-bientot-un-musee-dedie-a-la-place-jamaa-el-fna.html

The main dimension should be considered as the main factor for a sustainable touristic development in Algerian coastline are the following:

Discussion.

The analysis presented shows that there is a need for spatial integration and integration of tourism facilities and societies so that they are beneficial to both the local population and tourists, and the distribution of facilities in an organized way to ensure the continuity of tourism and community participation and characteristics. Moreover, development of tourist facilities in quantitative and qualitative manner. On the other hand, there is a strong need to create diversity in tourism facilities and to ensure community participation in this tourism process. It seems that the ideal solution includes spatial integration of residential and touristic areas, as well as creating diversity in the forms of tourism facilities in a sustainable manner without damaging the local communities and their resources.

Due to the large shortage of tourist complex and various facilities in all Algerian coastal cities, there is an urgent need to develop tourist areas with the construction of tourist complex to attract more tourists, especially from outside the country. The sustainable development of tourism in Algeria in the coast regions requires the conscious action of all concerned (Community members, state institutions, investors, private sector), to ensure broad stakeholder participation and reach consensus among them.

The major cities in Algeria have always been the focal point for tourists who live in summer housing complexes, but there is also a need to develop facilities in rural areas to create complementarity by also providing joint organized spaces on Throughout the year for the social activities and interactions of the inhabitants of these coastal areas, this study also indicates that the correct deployment of services, the quality of facilities and the right price are essential for the development of tourism. Touristic projects and facilities should be linked to a network of applicable sustainable development issues and indicators, and show that ecotourism can be considered a tool for managing ecosystems.

Conclusion and recommendations.

Algeria coastline is a new destination for international tourism, the domestic demand for tourism products is relatively high. All forms of tourism can carry out business, seaside, cultural, sport, fishing, health or spa tourism. The tourism industry in Algeria's transitional economy faces many problems for not following a social, environmental and economic strategy. These trends must be addressed in a timely manner by adopting strategies aimed at protecting sustainable development throughout the tourism sector and beyond. It is time to reform the framework conditions for such forms of sustainable tourism. Tourism development should be complementary to the buildings adjacent to tourist facilities. It may be desirable to develop various facilities and homogeneous holiday vacation real estate adjacent to villages and places with low population density - but public services and places must be located in areas that are accessible to both residents. Locals and tourists in order to create opportunities for social interaction between residents and tourists.

One of the important strategies and factor for developing tourism in coastal areas in Algerian coastline are:

1. The diversification of tourism facilities (hotels, tourist villages, complexes, bungalows…) with the supports of the local services and stimulates public spaces.

2. Developing and disseminating knowledge related to the links between trends, demographics, and overall policies for sustainable development

3. Land, water, air and energy use, appropriate technology diffusion and resource use in an informed and sustainable manner.

4. The integration of tourism facilities in the urban fabric, the integration of society in tourism development, attention to local government issues, and municipal administration and management with the vision of coastal tourism as a contributor to local sustainability.

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