TUNIS - Tunisia's Tourism Ministry said on Friday that tourism revenue up to July 20 was $1.07 billion, a 51% increase over the same period of last year and a 25% increase over the same period of 2019, the last year before the COVID pandemic.

Tourism is important for Tunisia and one of the only bright spots in its battered economy, amid a crisis in public finances and a drought that has impacted the agriculture sector.

(Reporting by Latifa Guesmi, writing by Angus McDowall, Editing by Louise Heavens)