| 11 November 2011 | 13 Comments
 
 

Tunisian tourism has considerably declined during the year of 2011 because of the revolution. According to the head of the National Office of Tunisian Tourism, Habib Ammar, the number of tourists visiting Tunisia declined by 34.4% and the income generated by tourism dropped by 38.5% to reach 1.6 million TND.  According to Ennahdha, tourism represents 6% of Tunisia’s total economy,  while the previous regime reported that tourism represented 7% of the total Tunisian GDP. Tourism also represents 20% of Tunisia’s exports and 12% of Tunisia’s total employment.

Tourism has a direct impact on many industries such as the hotel and airline industry but it also has an indirect impact on many other sectors of the export based Tunisian economy.

The Tourism and Trade minister, Mehdi Houas, has attempted innovative ways to promote Tunisia. He recently invited Kate & William, the British Royal couple, as well as Elton John, to visit the post revolution Tunisia.

Ennahda is taking initiatives to improve tourism. It organized a forum on November 10th where it invited tourism experts and people who own tourism businesses to express their concerns to the Ennahda leadership and talk about the issues the tourism sector is currently facing.  Leadership of Ennahda expressed a willingness to listen to industry and while they gave few specifics, they emphasized that tourism needs to be diversified with a greater focus on ecological, cultural, spa and revolution tourism.  They expressed a strong desire to develop tourism in the interior regions of the country.

At the same time, they would like to make the visa process easier for tourists from Gulf countries who were not welcomed by the old regime.

Yet the party’s large victory in the October 23rd election definitively influences the decisions of travel agencies. “The impact of Ennahda is undeniable, an Islamic party worries foreigners,” declared Amel Djait, a journalist specialized in Tourism, “the fact that the country is so split into Pro and Anti Ennahda camps in itself harms tourism,” she adds.

Tunisians who are against Ennahda give the country a bad image as they emphasize their fear against the rise of Islamism. On the other side there are extremists who are supporting Ennahda and who are attacking Tunisian culture and tourism. For instance, they do not accept the way tourists are clothed. The strength of these extremes affects the reputation of Tunisia and discourages potential tourists to visit Tunisia.

Djait is urging professionals in the field to reassure foreigners who want to come to Tunisia: “We should set a strategy to keep things in perspective.” She thinks that Tunisians generally have to change their mindset: “We don’t know how to build our future. We should know how we’re going to be in 10 years.”

Tunisian tourism is in crisis, and experts have failed to make any improvements in promoting Tunisia on a global scale.

According to an article by Amel Djait published in tourismag.com,  Tunisia’s promotion for tourists abroad has been mediocre, and is blaming the professionals because they are not considering the tourism issue seriously. “How can you defend something you don’t believe in?” asks Djait, who claims that Tunisia is under-marketed abroad. Tunisia is a very diverse country, known for its friendly people, nice beaches, sahara desert, and its many archaeological sites. There are many business opportunities to develop several segments of tourism: “The tourism market in Tunisia is untapped,” Djait adds.

All things considered, Tunisians might give many reasons to explain the collapse of the tourism sector in Tunisia. But tourism has not been a national priority, the way it is in Morocco. So unless they want to convince foreigners to visit Tunisia, they should first convince themselves of the importance of  tourism in their country.

Kouichi Shirayanagi helped reporting on this article


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Sites That Link to this Post

  1. News about Morocco: Business, Investment, and Trade Weekly – Issue November 12, 2011 | Afribiz.info | 12 November 2011
  2. Why is Tunisian Tourism in Crisis? – Tunisia Live | ????.net | 11 November 2011
  1. LoveTunisia says:
    02 January 2012 at 02:44

    Hello, thank you for the article. I am a foreigner and have been in Tunisia about 2 years. I totally agree the Tunisian gov. doesn’t really invest on promoting the country for tourism. It is so sad it is even worsening the situation by dis-motivating Tunisians involved in tourism business.

    Nevertheless, I have to point out what the people can do if for now it is hard to expect something from the gov.

    1. plz…organize trash bins or differ type of trashes by preparing many types of bins…and plz recycle…trashes are spreaded out all over streets (sure some main touristic areas are much better. No need to involve the gov. Plz discuss with your neighbors.

    2. Courtesy to strangers. I am married to Tunisian and his family including him are among the most educated and polite people i’ve ever seen. But i had many happenings for 2 years here when i faced Tunisians outside. I think they are not bad in heart but it may be the culture that they need to show their ego or pride as a priority instead of admitting their faults, otherwise they are considered failed or abased. Even when some people crushed my car by their mistakes, nobody showed an apology but some of them were sarcastic or entirely rude showing no responsibility. Yea, all of them ran away. lol

    3. Somebody said about begging. I understand many ppl are struggling but it is scary to see women with babies or old people are walking via cars on lanes for their security. One time i went out from my house and one Tunisian lady followed my until my house gate. She kept coming our house three times since then. She entered our house without a permission. I never go out alone since that moment.

    4. No basic service in restaurants, cafe and hotels. I am not talking about all, but 99percents of them never even say Hi to customers or Thank you or bye when they leave. Nothing more to explain. Now I am used to saying Ssalam first. I know I will gain a benefit from the God(when i say ssalam first). But it will not bring a luck for Tourism of Tunisia, for sure.

    I can make a long list about bad experiences i encountered in Tunisia. But some hopes, I saw some professional and friendly employees in one of hotels in Hammamet and i and my husband go there always, and also bcz we know we will feel the worth of our money. Honestly i’ve got a fear of facing Tunisians after 2 year stay, i have to confess hehe…

    Everyone should change not only gov. the passion and attitude towards their work, their business including tourism otherwise the country can’t improve without efforts of the nation. I love Tunisia although i listed many points here but it it bcz i really want the country to stand out from all the rests for their benefit…

    Reply
  2. Marjo says:
    14 November 2011 at 10:13

    I am living in Tunisia and working here as a guide with Scandinavian tourists. I have been surprised, how little Tunisia is promoting itself in Scandinavian countries. There are not so many people living but there are lot of for example golfers, who would be interested to come to Tunisia, because here the fees are still quite cheap compare to many other countries. I have heard from many of our visitors, that there is so little information about holidays in Tunisia that people are lacking information, when they make a decicion where to travel.

    After the revolution is also sad to see, that the service attitude has lowed a lot and people are sometimes really arrogant and rude towards the tourists in hotels and restaurants also.

    Also I think, that we, who are working here with travel agencies, could help government and inform them about what the tourists need and want from their holiday.

    I hope, that next year will be better, but Tunisia had to work hard to promote itself. But the work has to start now!

    Reply
  3. Fritz says:
    12 November 2011 at 22:30

    Way before the revolution I was interested in visiting Tunisia and I still am and for me it will a long journey from North America. So far I have only read about the country but it whets my appetite to learn more and visit in-person. Areas of interest for me include architecture, art, food and beverages, geology and geography, history, and many more.

    Reply
  4. Mondher Smida says:
    12 November 2011 at 17:30

    Tunisians are very friendly and always willing to share. Customer Service, on the other hand, is horrible and definitely not up to international standards.

    Reply
  5. McLovin says:
    12 November 2011 at 15:33

    While I haven’t been to 80 countries, I have been to about 30 and I lived in 3, including Tunisia. In the 5 years that I spent in Tunisia, I learned to speak Tunisian dialect and travelled virtually the entire country. Tunisia is a lovely country and I’m proud to have once called it my home, but the fact remains that the people just aren’t very friendly. People are nice to their family and friends, but rarely to strangers. With few exceptions, I think that almost all foreigners who live in Tunisia would agree with that statement.

    Reply
    • Sam says:
      12 November 2011 at 17:36

      McLovin

      Obviously we both hold Tunisia in high regard but we beg to differ on the subject of friendliness – perhaps I am the exception. I also speak Arabic and I have sometimes been asked to translate from the Tunisian dialect for Egyptians and Saudis! Of course, Tunisians understand other dialects very well, especially Egyptian.

      I live mostly in Tunisia but also in Egypt. In Tunisia I live in an area where I am the only foreigner who owns his own house and all my neighbours, although rather private, are very friendly and helpful.

      Obviously I do everything I can in my own small way to encourage tourism. So far, it seems that the government understands the importance of not upsetting tourism. I only hope it stays that way but we will have to wait until after the next lot of elections to find out the true colours of Ennahdha.

      Reply
  6. McLovin says:
    11 November 2011 at 17:34

    Umm… since when is Tunisia known for its “friendly people”.

    Reply
    • Sam says:
      11 November 2011 at 19:48

      Your comment says more about you than the people of Tunisia. I know Tunisia very well and have visited about 80 countries. I would rate Tunisia in the top two or three for friendliness.

      Reply
    • Eymen Gamha says:
      11 November 2011 at 21:16

      Mc Lovin you are welcome to visit Tunisia, you would take part in the construction of the new democratic Tunisia. You could also see the qualities and faults of Tunisians and have an idea about their friendliness.

      Reply

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