Global Arab Network | A new image - Tourism in Tunisia recovering

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A new image - Tourism in Tunisia recovering

Monday, 09 May 2011 12:54

Global Arab Network - Following a moderately successful 2010 and signs of growing interest from foreign investors, the Tunisian tourism industry was hit hard by political turmoil in early 2011. Although by all accounts it is likely to be a challenging year, the natural advantages that have made Tunisia one of the major holiday destinations for European tourists mean it is well positioned to recover from the crisis over the longer term. The return of foreign operators, indications of increasing interest from British tourists, and government and other efforts to boost the sector also point towards recovery, Global Arab Network reports according to OBG.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2011 Tunisia report, international visitor numbers to the country are expected to reach 6.7m this year, generating TD5.83bn (€2.92bn) in revenue. (It is not possible to compare the 2010 and 2011 reports due to changes in the WTTC’s methodology.)

Foreign interest in the sector was strong last year and is expected to continue in spite of the political turbulence: the WTTC expects it to see TD1.41bn (€707.05m) in investment in 2011. For example, according to Chinese media, a deal to fund a range of local projects was struck in late April between Tunisia’s minister for commerce and tourism, Mehdi Houas, and China’s deputy minister of commerce, Fu Ziying, with this including the development of a luxury tourism complex.

Several European groups also announced investment projects in late 2010, although there has been little news about most of them in the wake of the former government’s resignation. For instance, in December 2010 Spanish group RIU Hotels and Resorts was reported to be planning to open its tenth hotel in the country, a resort property on the island of Djerba. Also in December, Accor Hotels announced plans to begin operations in Tunisia in 2011 by opening two properties, namely a Novotel and an Ibis hotel in Tunis, as well as a branch of its Accor Academy hospitality training institution. The move comes on the back of a statement from Accor co-founder Gerard Pelisson, who noted that it was “not normal” that Accor, which operates dozens of hotels in Morocco and Algeria, did not have a significant presence in Tunisia.

The political turmoil of early 2011 had a predictably negative impact on the sector, with both tourism arrivals and receipts thought to have fallen by around 40% year-on-year in January and February, according to local media. In the months since the departure of the former president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the sector, like others, has been affected by strikes, and the rest of the year is likely to be challenging.

The country’s traditional dependence on package tourism has also limited its bounce-back potential, as other destinations, such as Turkey, increase in popularity and accessibility. Nevertheless, Tunisia has numerous natural advantages as a tourism market – proximity to Europe, good year-round weather and a long Mediterranean coastline – and the industry appears set to recover with time.

“The revolution will help boost our tourism industry in the mid to long term,” Habib Ammar, the director-general of the Tunisian National Tourist Office (ONTT), told the press. “I’m confident that our visitor numbers will triple or even quadruple over the next five years.”

The government, which is emphasising the modern and democratic nature of the new Tunisia as a selling point for tourists, is also working to get the sector back on track. For example, the Ministry of Tourism in mid-February launched a new campaign called “I Love Tunisia” to promote the country to foreign tourists. The campaign has targeted France, Tunisia’s largest source market, which typically accounts for around 20% of international visitors. The campaign has been rolled out via French newspapers, television channels and social media.

“People look at the map and see Tunisia and Libya next door to each other, so the idea of the campaign is to create a positive impression and reassure the world that Tunisia is once again a safe place to visit,” ONTT’s Ammar told the press.

Efforts to boost the number of Algerian visitors are also under way. Long a key source market – nearly 1m Algerians visit the country every year – arrivals from Algeria fell off in the early months of 2011, although the government is now using a variety of means to win them back, including rolling out advertising campaigns in Algeria media, offering guided tours and workshops for Algerian journalists, and sending representatives to tourism fairs in Algiers and Oran during April.

Other signs point to the sector getting back on its feet. Charter flights from the UK to Tunisia resumed in early March, with Thomas Cook offering 16 flights a week to the country during the winter season, though some of the major UK travel agencies have slightly reduced the number of flights they plan to offer to the country during summer.

The UK is emerging as an increasingly important source market, with holidays in Tunisia booked through UK tour operators having grown 31% year-on-year in 2010, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), with a total of 350,000 Britons having visited the country. In a report published at end-2010, ABTA was optimistic about further growth in British visitor numbers to Tunisia thanks to recent refurbishments and upgrades of hotels.

In addition, arrivals from Russia also look set to increase going forward following the green light from the country’s Federal Tourism Agency in late April, with the first Moscow-Tunis flight after a three-month break scheduled for April 24th. According to the Russian Tourism Industry Union, around 150,000 Russians visit Tunisia every year.

Demand also remains strong in Tunisia’s main European market, France. A survey carried out in February in France found that Tunisia remained the favoured holiday destination of approximately a quarter of respondents, who cited the weather, attractive prices and the Tunisian people as among the country’s enduring advantages.

Speaking in March during a visit to Tunisia, the French secretary of state for tourism, Frederic Lefebvre, pledged France’s support for the sector and said that France was contributing to the Tunisian authorities’ efforts to market the “true image of the new Tunisia”.

Global Arab Network

This article is published in partnership with Oxford Business Group

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