São Paulo – Tunisia has ambitious targets when it comes to the expansion of tourism, one of the leading sectors of its economy. According to the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism, the country wants to attract seven million visitors in 2013, generating US$ 3.8 billion in revenues. If confirmed, the figures will represent a return to 2010’s pre-Arab Spring levels.
“Our goal is to return to 2010 figures in 2013,” Tunisia’s National Department of Tourism (ONTT, in the French acronym) director of Habib Ammar told news agency France Presse (AFP).
The uprising which overthrew the dictator Zine El Abdine Ben Ali caused the number of visitors to drop to 4.8 million in 2011, down 33% from 2010.
According to news agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP), 2.4 million tourists visited the country in the first half of 2012, up 41% from the same period of last year. Revenues stood at US$ 707 million.
Right now it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the high season, therefore Tunisians are expecting good performance in the second half, but not enough to match 2010 figures, because of the economic crisis in Europe.
But Tunisia’s tourism goals do not stop at that. According to TAP, the minister of Tourism Ilyès Fakhfakh announced that the government has devised a long-term plan to promote the sector.
He forecasts that in 2016, the country will receive 10 million visitors, at US$ 6 billion in revenues. By 2020, the goal is to attract 20 million tourists and US$ 15 billion in revenues, creating 800,000 jobs. Currently, according to AFP, the sector accounts for 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
