Tunisia tourism minister says country lost one million tourists this year

Tunisia’s Minister of Tourism Salma Lummi said on Thursday that the number of tourists who visited the country this year up to the end of August reached nearly 3 million tourists, registering a decline of one million tourists compared to the same period of 2014.

Lummi explained during an interview with the local Mosaic radio station that the tourism sector has been in crisis since 2010 and  worsened significantly after the revolution when the number of tourists dropped by 50 per cent.

“The series of terrorist attacks have brought the situation to a crisis point,” Lummi said, pointing out  that the “historic agreement” signed with Algeria was an attempt to save this year’s tourism season.

Tunisia and Algeria in July increased the number of flights between the two country to three times their usual rate to reach 42 flights per week.

“The ministry’s priority is to introduce reforms and diversify tourism products to include venues other than  beach products, as well as to change Tunisia’s image abroad without losing sight of the importance of good governance,” the minister said.

“Tunisia depends mainly on tourism and after the terrorist attacks we have been trying to improve the country’s image and search for new markets other than the European market, including the Chinese and Indian markets,” she explained.

This year Tunisia has witnessed two violent terrorist attacks. The first attack targeted the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, which claimed the lives of 22 people, and the second took place in late June in Sousse beach resort, killing 38 foreign tourists, mostly British citizens.