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Update: Tuesday, 6 January 2009    

Privatization of State-owned hotels to improve yield and quality

Tourism Ministry to Al-Khabar
Sunday Feb 18 2007.

Tourism Minister, Noureddine Moussa, said state-owned hotels are to be privatized to improve yield and service quality.

He noticed that there are currently over 1064 hotels in different part of the country, including 64 state-owned hotels, that is 7%.

Speaking to Foutour Essabah, Al-Khabar’s weekly rendezvous, Noureddine Moussa said Public Hotel business includes 28 000 beds out 85 000 beds; so, the goal of privatization is to improve the output, adding that privatization process is to be undertaken by both Participation Ministry and Tourism Ministry presented by the State Participations Council.

As regard the quashing of privatization decision in relation to some hotels, the Minister pointed out that the list of hotels concerned by the latest operation is too long, however some hotels were moved aside because of many considerations, adding that EL-Djazair hotel is a real architectural masterpiece that has a long history and is to be classified according to archaeological protection‘s law, namely 98/04 law.

Tourism Minister has stressed that big hotels are to be dealt with according to two approaches: either selling all of them for need of financial sources or undertaking a partial privatization or management privatization, in case the concerned hotels just need to be enhanced through renovation works and improving quality service. The State prefers not to buy Al-Aurassi hotel and Al-Djazair hotel which could be concerned by a management privatization only. The others hotels are opened for privatization. Instead of buying Al-Aurassi and Al-Djazair hotels, we can resort to famous international companies to take advantage of their expertise in relation to management.

Denying the hotels unselected for privatization are mismanaged or showing deficit, the Minister underlines that Al-Aurassi has achieved over 450 million dinars in 2005 and more than that the former year. 58% of this hotel’s clients are foreigners. Tourism Minister disclosed that five hotels have been privatized while two other operations failed.

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