The Tunisian government has launched a marketing campaign to boost tourism in the country.
Tunisian tourism has been gradually recovering since the beginning of the year, after the revolution compromised security enough to deter visitors. Some speculate the country will regain its status as a favourite global tourist destination this year.
According to the tourism ministry, the number of tourists has increased by 46% in the period between early January and March 10th, to reach 660,000.
The same statistics showed that Maghreb markets topped the list of where tourists were coming from, with Libyan tourists numbering 333,500 and Algerians numbering 102,600.
French tourists outnumbered other European visitors with 82,000 tourists, followed by Germany with 27,000.
Tunisian tourism, which represents one of the main pillars of the country's economy, was severely damaged as a result of social and political turmoil that the country experienced last year. Tourist arrivals to Tunisia declined by 30.7%, resulting in the closure of 17 hotels and the loss of 3,000 jobs.
However, the improved security situation in the country and the return of stability to region generally since the end of the Libyan war, as well as the success of promotional plans by the government, helped restore activity to this sector, according to activists.
Travel agency employee Aymen Zouaghi confirmed that the tourism situation had changed in a positive way since the success of the Tunisian elections and the return of calm to neighbouring Libya. He pointed out that summer is a particularly popular time to visit.
"Bookings started returning to normal and have been rising continuously since the disappearance of all the concerns that developed as a result of some disturbances in certain Tunisian cities," he said. "In fact, all indications are that this will be a good tourist season and that Tunisia will succeed in restoring its tourism lustre soon."
Zouaghi predicts that bookings for next summer's tourist season will rise by as much as 60 per cent compared to last season, likely including an increase in visitors from the Maghreb, especially Algeria, and Europe as well.
Tunisia is counting on this tourist season to compensate for the loss incurred by the sector, in which tourism revenues fell to 1.8 billion euros in 2011, down from 2.3 billion euros in 2010.
In this context, officials are very optimistic about the sector heading toward tourist season. Tourism Minister Ilyes Fakhfakh predicted the number of arrivals to Tunisia by the end of this year to reach 6 million people.
In addition to better security in the country, he attributed this to the success of the promotional plan undertaken by the Tunisian state, especially in European markets.
Since mid-January, the Tunisian government has launched a promotional campaign under the slogan "Rediscover Tunisia". It aims to promote the tourist product of Tunisia and search for new markets using the latest communication technologies and social networking, as well as to open Tunisian cities to international airlines.
As a result, Tunisia received pledges from many countries to help support the tourism sector by working to encourage their citizens to visit Tunisia's tourist areas.
Russian tourism companies promised to increase the numbers of their tourists by 30 per cent this year, reaching 230,000 tourists.
Deputy of the European Commission Antonio Tineana also said during a March 9th press conference in Tunis that agreements would be signed between Tunisia and Europe in the field of tourism, benefiting both sides.
© Magharebia.com 2012
