Minister: Tunisia receives over 3 million tourists

Tunisia which has hosted since the beginning of the current year nearly 3 million and 27 thousand tourists, has recorded 1,400 million dinars in returns, Tourism Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said, on Thurs

Tunisia which has hosted since the beginning of the current year nearly 3 million and 27 thousand tourists, has recorded 1,400 million dinars in returns, Tourism Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said, on Thursday.

Responding to the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) members’s interventions, the minister specified that all the tourist markets with which Tunisia is working, were up by 30 to 60%.

Despite the difficulties of the current situation at the national level – democratic transition-and abroad, notably the economic crisis in Europe, the Tunisian tourism has managed to recover an important share of its markets, particularly, in the Mediterranean, Mr. Fakhfakh pointed out, specifying that this recovery proves that the Tunisian destination remains attractive and holds an important position on the world market, inspite of the cruel competition.

Beside, the minister said that inspite of the recorded success, several deficiencies persist, notably regarding the quality of services in airports and in some hotels and the environmental situation.

Mr. Fakhfakh voiced satisfaction at the domestic tourism’s development, particularly during school holidays. He undertook to lend this niche all the importance it deserves, notably regarding the improvement of the product’s quality, which will help guarantee a certain stability for this sector.

He added that efforts will be focused on developing alternative, rural and cultural tourism, laying emphasis on the importance of the civil society’s role in promoting the cultural heritage of the country’s various regions.

Besides, Mr. Fakhfakh pointed out that a strategy aimed to develop the tourist sector in Tunisia had been presented to the July 10th Cabinet meeting, announcing the setting up of a management unit by objectives, tasked with implementing this strategy as of next September.

As regards the issue of the tourism sector’s indebtedness which reached 1,200 million dinars, he specified that a thorough study had been conducted in collaboration with all stakeholders, particularly the Finance Ministry, had helped identify solutions that will be presented shortly to the next Cabinet meeting.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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