- Title: TUNISIA: Stability essential for Tunisia tourism recovery
- Date: 5th March 2014
- Summary: TOZEUR, TUNISIA (FEBRUARY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) HORSE AND CARRIAGE STATION HORSE'S FACE CARRIAGE LEAVING VARIOUS OF CARRIAGE BEING DRIVEN SUN SHINING BETWEEN PALMS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSBAH, CARRIAGE DRIVER, SAYING: "I don't have an alternative. I've been working for 17 years on a carriage. What could I do next? I don't have any other skills, or profession? Neither a project to launch." VARIOUS OF THE MEDINA OF TOZEUR (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN, AUSTRALIAN TOURIST RESIDENT IN LIBYA, SAYING: "The Atlas mountains, the Tunisians of Tozeur and Tataouin, and that sort of place, are unique and that's interesting to come and see something of the country and (it's) a lot more fun that coming to a tourist resort on the beach." VARIOUS OF MEDINA OF TOZEUR/ MAN SITTING/ STATUE CHOKRI SALMI, HOTEL MANAGER WALKING BY CLOSE ON A PANEL READING 'THREE STARS HOTEL' (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHOKRI SALMI - HOTEL MANAGER IN TOZEUR SAYING: "With god's will, the tourism will get better and tourists will come. Each month we hope it will be better than the previous one. We rely on holiday periods, when Tunisians come here in March and December. Without those periods, all hotels would have closed and as you know about four hotels are left open in this place." VARIOUS OF THE HOTEL SWIMMING POOL GENERAL VIEWS OF TOURISTIC ZONE OF TOZEUR CLOSED SHOPS/ PADLOCKED FRONT VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR 'DAR CHRAIT ', A FAMOUS MUSEUM CLOSED AFTER THE REVOLUTION CRAFT SHOP POST CARD ENTRANCE OF SOUTH-WESTERN TOURISM OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMED SAYEM - SOUTH WESTERN TOURISM CO-ORDINATOR SAYING: "2014 is the year of hope, the year of a new departure because the three last years were very hard. They greatly influenced the tourism sector. And you know that when tourism decreases it affects directly and rapidly the economy and the social climate in the region." TAMARZA, TUNISIA (FEBRUARY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CAMELS AROUND THE ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION BETWEEN TOZEUR AND TAMARZA CLOSE ON CAMEL LANDSCAPE NEAR TAMERZA SCORPION VARIOUS OF CLOSED 'TAMERZA PALACE' FIVE STAR HOTEL VARIOUS OF WORKER HOLDING A SIT-IN (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) PROTESTER AND FORMER WORKER IN TAMERZA PALACE HOTEL SAYING: "We hope that this hotel does not close, that it opens again with the former owner or with any other investor. The most important thing is that people go back to work, everybody will be happy this way. If there are clients, we will be there, and if there aren't, it's not a problem we will be there either way. We will stand up together in good and bad moments." VARIOUS OF THE PROTEST
- Embargoed: 20th March 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Tunisia
- Country: Tunisia
- Topics: Business,Economy,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA3LOSNB8XU49CFGQSPUOG15D1T
- Story Text: Tunisia expects a record high seven million tourists to visit this year as the country that inspired the Arab Spring revolts enjoys political stability for the first time since the uprising three years ago, tourism minister Amel Karboul said last week.
In the desert interior of the country, tourism workers hope that translates to better trade for them as well as for the coastal regions.
At a horse and carriage stop in Tozeur, one driver told Reuters he could not work in any other industry.
"I don't have an alternative. I've been working for 17 years on a carriage. What could I do next? I don't have any other skills, or profession? Neither a project to launch," said Mosbah.
After a crisis last year brought on by the killing of two opposition leaders, Tunisia has adopted a new constitution and a ruling Islamist party has stepped down to allow a caretaker government to take over until elections later this year.
Tunisia's new charter and its compromise to reach the final steps to full democracy have been praised as a model in a region still widely unstable since popular revolts in 2011 that ousted long-standing rulers in Egypt, Yemen and Libya.
The small North African country, looking for its economy to stabilise from the turmoil since the 2011 uprising, relies heavily on European tourism to its Mediterranean beaches. Tourism accounts for 8 percent of gross domestic product. Western tourists are encouraged to come to the country to support the transition to democracy, as well as enjoying its sun, beaches and culture, Karboul told Reuters.
Some tourists are happy to travel into the desert, rather than sit on a beach.
"The Atlas mountains, the Tunisians of Tozeur and Tataouin, and that sort of place, are unique and that's interesting to come and see something of the country and (it's) a lot more fun that coming to a tourist resort on the beach," Australian traveller John told Reuters TV in the medina of Tozeur.
The threat of Islamist militant attacks also casts a shadow over the country's tourism industry. A suicide bomber killed himself on a popular beach resort at the end of last year - the first such attack in a decade.
In 2010, a few months before the revolution that toppled former president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia received 6.9 million tourists. But visitors fell to 6 million in 2012 due to political instability.
Karboul, said the government was concerned about potential militant violence hurting tourism. But she said the sector, which employs 500,000 people in Tunisia, hopes to attract more German, British and Russian tourists, as well as restoring its traditionally strong market in travellers from its former colonial ruler France.
At the moment, one of the four hotels open in the Saharan desert town of Tozeur is relying on Tunisian holiday makers.
"With god's will, the tourism will get better and tourists will come. Each month we hope it will be better than the previous one. We rely on holiday periods, when Tunisians come here in March and December. Without those periods, all hotels would have closed and as you know about four hotels are left open in this place," said hotel manager Chokri Salmi.
Karboul said Tunisia was working to diversify tourism services such as desert tourism and support cultural tourism though developing special events. Last month more than 12,000 tourists flocked to the Tunisian Sahara for a music festival in Tozeur.
But many of Tozeur's sights and cultural landmarks are locked up. Shops are closed and hotels struggling to survive. Some local reports say up to 15 hotels have fully or partially closed in the town and the region has lost 50 percent of its business.
Tourism co-ordinator for the Southwest region, Mohamed Sayem said 2014 was a pivotal year.
"2014 is the year of hope, the year of a new departure because the three last years were very hard. They greatly influenced the tourism sector. And you know that when tourism decreases it affects directly and rapidly the economy and the social climate in the region," he said.
One hotel that has closed is the five-star Tamarza Palace in the nearby mountain oasis of Tamarza, which claims it has the second best spa in Tunisia. 10km from the Algerian border, it was open for 22 years before it closed in January 2014, leaving around 50 people unemployed.
Some of the former employees have staged a protest sit-in, asking the owner to reopen the hotel and help bring employment and economic activity back to the city which sits at 600 metres altitude.
"We hope that this hotel does not close, that it opens again with the former owner or with any other investor. The most important is that people go back to work, everybody will be happy this way. If there are clients, we will be there, and if there aren't, it's not a problem we will be there either way. We will stand up together in good and bad moments," said one of the former employees protesting outside the closed hotel.
Tourism was hit after the uprising against Ben Ali, and the crisis that erupted over the last year when protests broke out against the ruling Islamist party Ennahda. Secular opponents accused them of being lenient on Islamist militants.
Since the end of the year, political stability has returned to Tunisia and a caretaker government filled with technocrats will govern until elections later this year.
Tunisia still faces many challenges, including persistent violence by Islamist militants although Tunisian security forces have cracked down on militants from the banned Islamist movement Ansar al-Sharia, one of the radical groups to emerge after Ben Ali's fall. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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