The Tunisian Minister of Tourism, Mohamed Moez Belhassine, emphasized “a strong demand for the Tunisian destination in 2023”, based on the information from tour operators.
He stressed the need to prepare well for the recovery, wishing for the revival of the Russian market having achieved in 2019 nearly 630 thousand tourists, with an average stay of 10 days.
He added that a preliminary strategy has been put in place to restore Tunisian tourism industry by 80%, compared to 2019 (base year), before the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Minister called for the factors to be brought together for this recovery, namely air transport, with the improvement of services within the tourist establishments and outside, the interest given to the environment, good services and practices outside the hotels, in addition to health vigilance and security.
The recovery of all tourism indicators recorded last year in Tunisia, including December 2022, having seen a recovery rate of 82% in the number of arrivals, compared to 2019.
The plan was based on the recovery of tourism indicators in a proportion of 60% on the basis of the reference year, he said.
He also reported that "tourism revenues had reached 4,279 billion dinars, an increase of 83%, compared to the previous year, noting that the goal has been exceeded, with a recovery rate of 76%, compared to 2019. 19.3 million room nights were recorded in 2022, a 65% recovery rate from 2019.
Some 6.437 million foreign visitors have visited Tunisia, a recovery rate of nearly 70%, compared to the reference year, he said.
Among the main European markets that have grown, the French market is in first place, with a 95% recovery rate compared to 2019, he noted.
"We have exceeded what was recorded in 2019, for the Czech, Slovak, Polish markets, in addition to the North American markets (+ 6%), ditto for the African markets," he said.
However, that amount of Algerian tourists fell last year to 1.2 million, while in 2019 there were 3 million Algerian visitors boosting the Tunisian tourism industry.