Algeria-
The Algerian Hakim Al-Ayeb invented a "wonderful tent" that contains all the necessities of a tourist residence, no matter the location.
He wanted his innovative "tent" to be a "revolution" in the vital sector in which he works, especially since his country is rich in natural and historical areas that attract thousands of foreign tourists annually.
Algerian Hakim Al-Aib, owner of the "Wonderful Tent" project (Al-Jazeera)
How was the idea born?
“The idea was born during the period of the Corona pandemic,” Al-Ayeb (who is the owner of a tourism agency) tells Al Jazeera Net that he felt that he could transfer his traditional tourism agency to the level of a tourism investment agency that enjoys the dynamism (the process) that makes the scope of its work wider and softer, “and this is what prompted me To search for a viable solution that fulfills my ambition."
The owner of the project, who noted that most foreign tourists who go to the Algerian desert - which has an area of more than two million square kilometers - need tourist facilities to accommodate them during their trip.
The strange tent is surprising and popular with foreign tourists (Al-Jazeera)
From here, Al-Ayeb found that the solution lies in creating a group of "wonderful tents" - as he put it - "when a tourist, for example, goes to the Algerian desert, which is a tourist pole with distinction, he finds practical tourist facilities that suit his trip and meet his request at very reasonable prices."
Each "Wonderful Tent" includes all the services and equipment that can be available in hotels;
From a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom, a refrigerator, a special place for children, a “panoramic” (astronomical observatory) for astronomical tourism, a screen for internet connection, and an air conditioning device.
The wonderful tent includes amenities, internet service and air conditioning as well (the island)
Al-Ayeb points out that he discovered the idea of "wonderful tents" during his visits to Jordan, China and Turkey, and considered them an alternative to the usual tourist facilities, knowing that his project is characterized by "Algerian peculiarity," as he put it.
The owner of the "mobile hotel" set out on a journey to make his project a success by visiting the various states of Algeria, in search of raw materials to achieve his dream of filling the gaps in the tourist facilities with that "wonderful tent" that looked like a "miniature palace", such as iron and special cloth.
And what made his task easier was his finding professional craftsmen in the province of Batna (east of the country), setting a mandatory condition that the craftsman be an "artist".
The "Wonderful Tent" includes all the services, facilities and equipment that can be available in hotels (the island)
5 star tent
Al-Ayeb admits that his idea did not succeed in its beginnings, but his insistence on the success of his project led him to the manufacture of a mobile hotel powered by solar energy.
He says that the project is equivalent to "5 star" hotels, pointing out that this tent can be placed in the mountains, desert, beaches and others, so that the tourist finds in front of him all the appropriate means and conditions for living;
Promotion of local tourism.
He points out that "the tent can be allocated to two people, and it can be divided into two rooms, and it can also be a lecture hall, as well as for swimming, cinema and sports," expecting that his project will achieve the approval of foreign tourists to change their view of accommodation, and target local tourists as well.
Visitors praised the idea of mobile hotels and considered it a "tourist revolution" in Algeria (Al-Jazeera)
Amazement and cautious optimism
While Al Jazeera Net was talking with the owner of the mobile hotel project, that tent did not calm the visitors who contemplate every detail in it with astonishment, wondering about the "owner's nationality", and their opinions did not differ about the importance of the project, but they differed in each one's view of its "future".
Khaled (a photographer for a local tourism production agency) expressed his admiration for what he was photographing, so that he spent more than an hour with his own cameras to document every part of it.
Khaled told Al Jazeera Net that "the project is exceptional in every sense of the word," stressing that Algeria "is rich in competencies capable of advancing all sectors, especially tourism, which have been decades oscillating between the lack of facilities and the high prices of some of them or even the weakness of the services provided," as he put it, He expected the idea of mobile hotels to be a "tourist revolution in Algeria".
Hakim Al-Ayeb (left) with foreign tourists at the headquarters of his startup (Al Jazeera)
The astonishment of Sayed Ali - who visited that tent with his wife and two children - did not differ with all those details that characterize the project.
However, the man was cautious about the future of this single achievement.
He told Al Jazeera Net that "many innovations were made by Algerians previously, and their fate was official neglect, while foreign countries picked them up, and this is what I fear for this distinguished project."
He believed that "a project like this needs huge financial support that may not be provided by the government or the private sector, which constitutes a major obstacle to the wide application of the project on the ground, not just its success."