Tunisia’s new tourism minister is too busy trying to save the sector to let terrorism slow her down.
Amel Karboul is plunging ahead with an ambitious plan to restore the country’s position as a premier destination for Maghreb and European visitors.
Times are tough for Tunisia’s tourism sector, mostly because of security concerns. The minister knows this all too well; two terrorists arrested in Sfax this month admitted to planning her murder.
The suspects had links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Akher Khabar reported. Yet even as the assassination plot came to light, the tourism minister remained optimistic, calling for joint efforts by the government and private operators to salvage the sector responsible for 7% of GDP and some 380,000 jobs.
“It’s up to each of us to do what is necessary to ensure the quality of services and products offered to foreign and local tourists,” Karboul told the Tunisian Hotel Federation (FTH) on June 10th. The meeting came one day after the group issued a scathing statement voicing frustration over the slow pace of the sector’s recovery.
Tourism is considered a pillar of the Tunisian economy and a tributary of social development. So if it suffers, the repercussions are widespread. Hopes were high among the FTH that the constitution and change of government would erase what it called the “bad image created by three years of instability”.
“FTH was convinced that the Tunisian tourism would resume with expected growth. It is clear, five months later, that we’ve wasted this capital, since the results are not there,” the hoteliers added.
The tourism minister targets 7 million visitors this season, which will help replenish state coffers and provide new jobs. The goal will be realised by improving the quality of training, polishing the image of Tunisia abroad, diversifying tourism products and boosting investment in domestic travel, Karboul told Magharebia.
The sector has shown some modest gains.
“The first quarter of 2014 saw a 4.5 per cent increase in visitors compared to the same period in 2013, thanks to a great number of Maghreb tourists, especially Algerians,” Tunisian National Tourism Office (ONTT) head Wahida Djait said.
“The number of tourists who visited Tunisia during this period exceeded 1,110,000, which is close to the level recorded during the same period of 2010, the reference year for Tunisian tourism,” Djait added.
Whether a real turnaround is on the horizon depends on security. Training sessions and monitoring equipment have recently been provided to security officers working in hotel units, FTH chief Radhouane Ben Salah told African Manager on June 15th.
“Security in the country has recently seen a disturbing decline, which has unfortunately been reported by foreign media. This can only slow the development of the sector,” Ben Salah added.
Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies (FTAV) head Mohamed Ali Toumi agreed, noting that improved security would “support the Tunisian tourism sector and contribute to attracting more foreigners”. Restoring security is no easy task, the government concedes.
“Every day, suspects are arrested, weapons and explosives seized and terrorist operations are aborted,” Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou told the National Constituent Assembly on June 23rd. In just the first five months of 2014, some 687 terrorist cases were recorded, 256 people were arrested in connection with Syria jihad, 17 terrorists were killed by security forces and 12 terror attacks were thwarted, Ben Jeddou said.
Libya effect
Security also remains the most important concern for workers in the tourism sector in Tunisia.
“Tunisia is not Libya or Algeria,” says Mostafa Tej, 41. “We do not have gas and oil, but we have a beautiful country that can be used to improve the tourism sector. But because of the continuing terrorist threat to Tunisia and especially the worsening situation in Libya, we cannot achieve the required level and bring tourists back to Tunisia.”
The misfortune of Tunisia is that it remains hostage to the security situation in Libya, experts say. According to Tunisian Centre for Global Security Studies (CTESG) head Nasr Ben Soltana, “disorder in Libya will have serious repercussions on the security situation in Tunisia”.
“Terrorists will seek to exploit it and ignite the situation in Tunisia, and open new fronts to slide the region to instability,” he adds.
Afif Kochok, the owner of a hotel in Tunis, says that “confronting any sort of terrorist attack cannot be done by ordinary security agents”.
“They do not have weapons and are not qualified for that,” he says. “There is equipment such as infrared cameras that detect movement at night, but unfortunately installing them in hotels is too expensive.”
“Despite all the difficulties, Tunisia remains a favourite destination for many European tourists. They total about a million and half yearly,” he tells Magharebia. Hachem Hawet, a waiter in one of the tourist resorts, is also optimistic about the sector’s recovery.
“My income before the revolution was three times what it is now,” he says. “But the situation will improve as Tunisia recovers from the spectre of terrorism and political tensions.”
Marwan Bouraoui, who works for a hotel on Djerba, has seen the sector’s progress first-hand.
“After I graduated, I obtained a good job with one of the big hotels. Yet after the revolution many from the staff were laid off and I was one of them, which made me suffer unemployment for a long time,” the young woman says.
“Praise be to God, I found another job, and this is evidence that the situation of tourism in Tunisia has recovered and will return better than it was,” she adds.
European visitor numbers need to grow, but tourists from Maghreb countries still flock to Tunisia. For Algerian tourist Mouez bou Ghadrouf, Tunisia’s appeal lies in “the beauty of the country, its welcoming attitude and excellent services, and its cultural and geographical proximity”.
“It’s true that I refrained from visiting the year that followed the revolution, but I came back because the security situation has improved a lot and there’s no need to fear,” he says.
Libyan tourist Salah Mosrati visits every month to shop.
“It’s our favourite destination,” he tells Magharebia. “Besides, the critical situation in Libya makes us think that we should leave for good and settle in Tunisia.”
