TUNISIA-SECURITY/BEACH Tunisia beach resort empty as attack hits tourism

Record ID: 149040

  • Title: TUNISIA-SECURITY/BEACH Tunisia beach resort empty as attack hits tourism
  • Date: 30th June 2015
  • Summary: BOUQUET NOTE SAYING (English): "WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES" SUN LOUNGERS STACKED, MEMBER OF STAFF WAITING PEOPLE RIDING HORSES DOWN BEACH
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADDH11Q34SJBCCE7AD0S6EU1VG
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The small seaside community of Kantaoui was trying to return to normal on Tuesday (June 30) after last Friday's (June 26) bloody shooting which killed 39 people, mostly British tourists, last week.
    Some bathers had returned to the sea and a group of local boys played football on the beach in the tourist complex 10 kilometres north of Sousse.
    The area, which relies heavily on the tourist trade, has been hit hard as foreign visitors have fled, many in special flights organised by tour operators.
    The memorial of flowers, photographs and flags visited by three European interior ministers on Monday (June 29), stood witness to the shooting.
    Tunisia expects to lose at least $515 million this year, or about a quarter of its estimated annual tourism earnings.
    The attack by a gunman on the Imperial Marhaba beach hotel in the popular resort town of Sousse came just months after militants attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing 21 people, and delivering a blow to the country's vital tourism industry.
    The North African country earned $1.95 billion in revenues from tourism last year. The sector makes up seven percent of its gross domestic product and is a major source of foreign currency and employment for Tunisia.
    The government plans to end a visitors' tax and also to review debt relief for hotel operators as ways to help sustain the industry.
    The government has said 1,000 more armed tourism police will patrol hotels and tourism sites and the army reserves will also be drafted in to beef up protection.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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