Algeria: an American tourist surprised by the cost of the stay in dollars”/>
View of the city of Oran in Algeria / By mehdi33300 / Adobe Stock for VVA – Visas & Voyages
Is traveling to Algeria expensive or affordable? This is the question that an American globetrotter asked himself before beginning his journey to explore this vast country in North Africa. During his journey, the answer to his question intrigued him.
At the start of a video posted last week on his TikTok, globetrotter Eli Snyder, responding to the username Snyd Explores, declared that “ visiting Algeria is either very expensive or very affordable, there is no middle ground ».
To support his observation, the globetrotter began by explaining that the money market in Algeria operates within a framework of exchange duality, between the official exchange rate and the parallel exchange rate.
“Visiting Algeria is either very expensive or very affordable”, the tourist explains
« The gap between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate is one of the largest in the world “, immediately explained the American tourist.
At the time of his visit, the Algerian dinar was trading on the official banking circuit at 135 dinars to the US dollar. “ Every time you use an ATM or your credit card, this is the rate you will be charged “, he explained.
But at the same time, the Algerian dinar was trading on the black currency market at a rate of 220 dinars to the US dollar. Travelers who go to Algeria in possession of cash will therefore have a much more advantageous exchange rate.
« This means that when you go to Algeria and bring hundred dollar bills and exchange them on the black market, everything is 40% cheaper “, explained the 25-year-old traveler.
“As soon as you run out of cash, this country gets expensive”
So, he points out that the flight you see online for a hundred dollars is not really 100 dollars in Algeria, but rather 60 dollars. Ditto for a hotel room listed online for $60 per night, which actually only costs the equivalent of $40 per night at the parallel exchange rate.
Eli Snyder adds, in his video viewed by more than 208,000 Internet users over the past six days, that for travelers who exchange their currencies on the black market, “ Algeria is indeed a very affordable destination ».
However, ” as soon as you run out of cash and have to withdraw some from an ATM, suddenly this country is expensive “, he said, asking his followers to name other countries like that, apart from Lebanon and Argentina.
