Tunisia shifts tourism focus in fight to guard against overtourism
Sophie GriffithsTunisia is shifting its focus towards “alternative tourism” as the country seeks to pre-empt overtourism concerns.
The north African destination expects to welcome around 10 million tourists by the end of 2024 – including nearly 300,000 Brits – and still has capacity to grow visitor numbers.
However, with a target of 15% growth during 2025, it is already on a mission to disperse tourists more widely around the country to showcase other, less-touristed areas
“Our key message is alternative tourism – we want people to enjoy experiences all over the country,” Helmi Hassine, general director of the National Tunisian Tourism Office told TTG at WTM London.
"We want to showcase the experiences on offer such as hiking and biking and cultural activities. This isn’t to replace our beach offering, but we want visitors to discover more of Tunisia”.
Up to 80% of tourists are already booking excursions to explore other parts of the country, while a new tourist tax – which was introduced on 1 January before bring extended to package holidaymakers from 1 November – has helped disperse additional funds among local communities.
Hassine said the country wanted to make tourism more equitable, enabling more Tunisians to benefit from visitors rather than just the larger companies.
Around 2,000 guesthouses around the country are currently being certified to accept tourists, with tourism chiefs hoping to complete this within a year to encourage visitors to explore new areas away from more popular resorts. “We want tourism to be more fair and to fight the seasonality,” Hassine explained. “Tunisia is a year-round destination”.
In support of this, Hassine revealed easyJet Holidays now has more capacity in winter than summer following the launch of two new routes to the southern island of Djerba from Luton and Manchester this month.
The UK is now Tunisia’s fourth largest European source market, having been overtaken this year by Poland.
France remains Tunisia’s top European source market with Germany ranking second. Some 278,000 Brits visited Tunisia this year, up by nearly two-thirds (65%) year-on-year and up by 44% compared with 2019.
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