US provides $50m to fund Tunisia tourism project 

Tunisia and the United States on Wednesday launched the “Visit Tunisia” project at the archaeological site of Sbeitla, in the governorate of Kasserine, with a fund of $50 million.

In a statement the US Embassy in Tunisia said: “The project is funded by the US government through the US Agency for International Development.”

“It extends over a five-year period and aims to help the vital Tunisian tourism sector to recover through partnerships with the public and private sectors as well as through digital innovation.”

The project will contribute to creating 15,000 new jobs in the sustainable tourism sector in Tunisia’s marginalised regions, and will support small tourism enterprises, according to the statement.

It also aims to increase the spending rate of visitors by 20 per cent, and the number of tourists to 11.5 million by 2026.

Tourism revenues in Tunisia, in the first 20 days of this year, amounted to 91.5 million dinars ($31.7 million), compared to 73.4 million dinars ($25.47 million) a year ago, according to the Central Bank.

The Ministry of Tourism expects the number of arrivals to Tunisia in 2022 to reach about 5.7 million tourists, with financial revenues of no less than 3.5 billion dinars ($1.2 billion).

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