Until August, Tunisian tourism showed increases in visitor numbers and revenue. Nevertheless, it has been subject to criticism that sometimes questions its fundamentals and expresses less a desire for reform than “a desire to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Those disappointed with tourism this year are mainly craft retailers and restaurant owners, who have seen a drop in customer numbers. Increases in hotel rates (to offset inflation and rising costs) seem to have had the greatest impact on local tourist numbers.
However, despite its disadvantages, Tunisian tourism has achieved results that other competing destinations would envy. This is what we argue in this video. For example, in 2024, Tunisian tourism recorded 27 million overnight stays for 180,000 beds and 10 million tourists. This compares to 28 million overnight stays in Morocco, which had no fewer than 300,000 beds and welcomed 17 million tourists. And this figure of 28 million overnight stays falls to 11.8 million for classified accommodation establishments.
Are those disappointed by tourism in Tunisia not among those who believed too much in the promise of an “exceptional season” announced since the spring?
By Lotfi Mansour, tourism consultant (former director of specialized magazines; initiator and Honorary President of the Tunisia Convention Bureau).
Production: MCM.