São Paulo – Travel agency HR, from São Paulo, decided to specialise in trips to Tunisia. The company, apart from operating as an agency, is also an operator – promoting packages – and has set up a department turned exclusively to Tunisia. According to the HR director at the company, Helena Romano, Tunisia is not a country well known in Brazil and among the Brazilians who have mostly sought the trips are people aged over 35, who generally already know Europe and are seeking exotic places.
"A tourist once told me ‘Helena, I had never imagined that Tunisia was such a beautiful place, thank you!’. They return enchanted," explained company owner, who started working with the destination around a year and a half ago. Helena has a fixed group, for which she has been setting up trips for several years, and it was when she was seeking something different for this group that she came across the Arab country. The first trip took place in November 2007 and from then on HR has already taken three groups to do tourism in Tunisia.
The agency offers both trips for groups and for individuals. In the group packages around 10 sites and cities are visited, among archaeological, cultural and historic attractions, points of reference for the Muslim religion, and the seashore. There is also a trip to the desert, with a possible night at a campsite, and a visit to a local market, which sells from animals and food to handicraft, as well as outings on dromedaries and offers to the possibility of seeing the desert from up above, on a paraglider.
"The Europeans normally visit the beaches of Tunisia, but the Brazilians are more interested in the interior," said Helena, recalling that Brazil already has beaches in abundance. The individual trips may include the same route as the group trips, but there are also possibilities for more exotic activities, like seawater therapy or gulf. Tunisia has several golf courses and five star hotels with seawater treatment: also including algae and sand.
The trips are on Air France or Alitalia flights, with stops in Europe, and a group package costs around US$ 2,600, including the airfare. An individual trip, for seven nights, including seawater treatment and five star hotel, costs around US$ 750, excluding the airfare, which is around US$ 1,000. These prices are for low season, up to early July. HR is preparing a site especially for Tunisia.
Helena, who established HR, is from São Paulo and graduated in history. She worked for a video producer, where the owner suggested she start working in tourism. She spent a year working as a freelance travel agent and then decided to open her own company. HR also operates with other international and national tourist destinations.
HR Turismo
Telephone: (+55 11) 3539 8140
Site: www.hrturismo.com.br
E-mail: contato@hrturismo.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
